Nannie Mae Wooten

Nannie Mae Allen was born March 24, 1918, to Jesse and Mariah Hoosier Allen. After the death of her mother, when she was 2 years old, the young Nannie was raised by her grandmother, Mrs. Nannie Vaughn Hoosier.

At the age when Nannie began school, education was racially segregated. Black communities joined together to build elementary schools to educate their children. High school education for blacks remained virtually non-existent. Even though Nannie Mae Wooten was proud to receive an eighth-grade education, she understood her life and the lives of future generations would prosper through further education if it were available

Nannie met and married Frank B. Wooten, her childhood sweetheart. To this union, seven children were born: Frank Jr., Onie, Linda, Brenda, Mariah, James Michael, and Janet. Mrs. Wooten was a strong advocate of education and was instrumental in her children continuing their education beyond the high school level. All went on to earn post-secondary degrees.

Mr. Wooten carried her philosophy of education to her job as head of housekeeping at Austin Peay State University where she worked from Jan 1, 1959, until her retirement in February 1980. In 1968, Mrs. Wooten befriended a young student worker named Joe C. Greer while they were working in Clement Hall. She encouraged Greer to study hard in order to achieve his degree, because there were so few African- American students on campus, Mrs. Wooten became an integral part of Greer's campus life. She became a mother away from home, often inviting Greer to her home for Sunday dinner.

Joe C. Greer went on to become a successful dentist in Memphis, Tenn. Dr. Greer became involved with APSU National Alumni Association. It was then, years later, that he discovered Mrs. Wooten had encouraged many other students on campus, having served as a mother figure for many students housed in Blount Hall. After realizing that so many benefitted from her kindness, Dr. Greer felt Nannie Mae Wooten should be honored by a scholarship founded in her name to continue her legacy of encouraging students. Unfortunately, Mrs. Wooten passed way in 1981 and did not live to see the great tribute Dr. Greer began in her honor.

In 1998, Dr. Greer founded the Nannie Mae Wooten Memorial Scholarship and began funding the scholarship annually. It was not until 2004 that Mrs. Wooten children learned of Dr. Greer's generosity. They were overwhelmed by his act of kindness to their mother, to help build the scholarship instead of traditional exchanging of gifts. They have continued honoring their mother with annual tradition.

With support of family, friends, and former students like Dr. Greer whose lives were touched by Mrs. Wooten, her scholarship fund had now reached endowment status. Beginning in January 2011, the Nannie Mae Wooten Memorial Scholarship will be annually awarded to deserving Austin Peay State University minority student of African-American descent.

 “We never know how high we are, until we are called to rise”. Emily Dickinson