Granny Women
1897 - Domestic Event
Whereas wildcrafters gather medicinal herbs and sell them to wholesalers,
herb doctors, also known as granny women,
harvest, prepare and treat patients with herbal remedies.
Most granny women learned their remedies from family and
community members. Many have also educated themselves about the medicinal
properties of the herbs they use. They process herbs into salves, teas, tonics,
syrups, balms and lotions. And they often experiment with unfamiliar herbs
that come their way.
Emma Dupree, for instance, was a granny woman with a wide
following in Pitt County, North Carolina. She never charged for her healing
remedies but did accept donations of ingredients. Among her preparations were:
- Pillows stuffed with rabbit tobacco to relieve asthma sufferers
- A tincture made of balsam pears and whiskey to ease many discomforts, from colic to arthritis
- Cough syrup made of cod liver oil, pine tar and whiskey
- A skin salve containing sulfur, pine tar and Vaseline®
Another herb doctor, Mary Sue Locklear, still practices in
Robeson County. She follows her Lumbee Indian family traditions of herbal treatments for many ailments, consulting books and talking with doctors to expand her knowledge. Like Emma Dupree, she does not charge patients for her remedies,
which include:
- Cough syrup made from mullein, fig leaves, bayberry bark, wild cherry, lobelia seeds, milkweed, mint, lemon juice and brown sugar
- An herbal salve for skin irritations, containing fig leaves, bayberry, purple violets, pure vegetable shortening and wax
- A salve for burns, made from wild ginger, vegetable shortening and oil of lavender
“I wish more people would be interested in [herbs] to help themselves,” says Locklear. “It would save a lot of doctor bills.”
Emma Dupree (1897 – 1995), an herb doctor who received the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 1992.