Living Legend Lottie Norris Celebrates 90th Birthday
“Miss Lottie” Oneal Freeman Norris turned 90 years old this week…on Juneteenth in fact. Fitting for a woman who has always stood up for what she believes and raised her children to do the same.
I have known Miss Lottie all my life, after all she’s a Monticello living legend. But when I sat down with her on the day before her monumental birthday this week, I learned so much not known to me prior. She’s one of those rare people who you can sit down with, say only a few words and end up with a lifetime of stories that show you who they really are and proves what they are made of.
Moments after I stepped over the threshold of her home, Miss Lottie exclaimed, “I’m turning 90—I’m claiming 10 more!” That’s the spirit. She went on to tell me that she’s healthy, hardly ever sick, and has issues with her eyes from time to time. Now that’s a good 90!
Miss Lottie didn’t offer any tidbits for longevity and I didn’t ask. What she did say, “life is simple but we make it hard. I’ve lived long enough to find out that we need to respect each other. We should love everybody —some close up and some from a distance.”
Miss Lottie shared so many stories and I could have listened all week long. She spoke about growing up with her grandmother Dolly Freeman—her gold mine, silver mine, and everything. So many of her stories spoke to her resilence and tenacity beyond any situation life threw at her early on.
I was especially wowed at how her union to her late husband Ulysses Norris came to be. She was 14, he was 17. Early on in the relationship, she becane pregnant with her eldest, Danny. Miss Lottie spoke of the hurt her Grandmother Dolly expressed on her face when hearing the news from the doctor.
Not long after that announcement, she remembers coming home from school one day and her grandmother telling her to clean up and get dressed. She didn’t really know where she was headed but she obliged.
Well she was headed to Mr. Middlebrooks where Ulysses was headed as well for a wedding. There were some vows said and when it came time to kiss the bride, Miss Lottie said she ran off.
“I turned 15 on Sunday and was married on Tuesday,” she shared with a chuckle.
After that they went to their respective homes until he left for the Army soon after. When he returned home from service they began their life together raising their family—Danny, Bobby, Peyton, Doug, Juanita, Charlotte, and Michael.
“We stayed together 60 years, worked together, and raised our family.”
The strong family that has led to 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, currently.
“All the kids are doing fine. We are blessed. I know if God will do it for me, he will do it for everybody.”
After starting her family, Miss Lottie left school after the tenth grade. She worked many places around Monticello including several years at Jasper Memorial Hospital which was “happening back in the day.” She speaks of learning so much from the ladies there that came before her.
Miss Lottie also worked at the old dry cleaners that was located off West Washington, next to the former Monticello News building. She remembers when working there having to use the restroom at the Chaffins grocery store across the street because there was not facilities for persons of color to use.
Her days at the now defunct Georgia-Pacific Plant she remembers vividly. It’s where she rode out her retirement. She worked in every part of that plant through the years and knew its odds and ins like the back of her hand. Yet, whenever she applied for a promotion she was always passed over.
There was a board that would list the finalists and those promoted, she recalled And her name was never on that board, so at some point she just stopped looking. She suspected that it had to do with her not finishing high school. So she decided to do something about it.
Miss Lottie recalls two GP “big wigs” from Atlanta visiting the local plant one day. During that visit she told them she was going back to school to finish her high school education. One of them responded, “I don’t know how you going back to school with seven kids.” To which she replied, ”I’m going back to school for my seven kids.”
It was night school with now deceased educators Ulysses Carter and Betty Jo Veal that got Miss Lottie to her goal. She kept faithfully working at GP. She told me how she made copies of her diploma and posted one to each side of her desk so there could be no question about her achievement.
After earning that diploma, Miss Lottie eventually decided to give applying for another promotion a try. She was at her desk one day when a co-worker asked if she had checked the board after applying. She told that inquirer no and that she wasn’t going to but that person persisted she do so. When she finally checked, Miss Lottie had been promoted to Quality Control for the entire plant.
I know that Miss Lottie shared these stories to simply prove that there is power in perseverance. Goals are meant to be achieved, a lesson she shares with all the youth she comes into contact with on a frequent basis. She may have birthed seven babies, but she’s a caretaker to an entire community. Her 90 years are a true testament to her faith in God and her belief that hard work and persistence can lead you anywhere no matter who you are.
“You’re not better than nobody, but you can be anybody,” is what Miss Lottie often told her children growing up and still does to anybody who will listen. My mother often shared the same mantra with my siblings and I.
In talking about everything from education to politics and how the world changes but stays the same, Miss Lottie said it always comes back to two things—love and respect for each other at all times.
Here’s to a great 90 years Miss Lottie…and the 10 to come!
