Do You Remember Emma? (Reposted from the Destin Log, June 11, 2012)

I am writing a book about a Destin personality I met at age 6 and bade farewell to some 30 years later.

Emma Irby first came from Alabama to Destin to work in the new Silver Beach Cottages development. She also worked at the Florida Girl motel and for a long string of Destin families, even helping to raise their children.

While other black folks may have also worked in Destin, Emma actually lived here, as a live-in domestic servant and traveling maid, mainly for Mattie Kelly — all this in a time when segregation was still very much alive in Okaloosa County and "Whites Only" signs were displayed in some businesses.

When some of her original employers passed away, and Emma grew old (but not too old to work, she insisted), she became known as the homeless black lady who wore wonderful hats and collected cans by the bagful.

I invited her to a house blessing in 1986 and we became fast friends.

I became interested in Emma's life and her experiences. Emma was full of advice on countless subjects, from how a lady should dress, who should be allowed to see your home, and how to clean and decorate her way (very unorthodox and amusing at times.)

There was more than wisdom in her words. There was pride and self-respect. Her laughing brown eyes were loving and hopeful. She was very faithful to her employers and listened to gossip, but would never share it.

She ended up being sent away to live in a Montgomery, Ala., adult foster home.

With only a single photo and letters exchanged with her since her days in Destin, I am writing a biography, including genealogical research on roots dating to slavery and emancipation, and a descriptive snapshot of Destin in the early 1960s.

For months I worried that Emma had passed away, but I recently received a letter from her and know that she is alive and well!

I am sending royalties from the book to Emma so that it will give her spending money for things she would like to buy for herself. She is very modest. But I think she will appreciate it and the money.

The book will be called “The Help of Destin, Emma Irby.” It will be the story of a young black woman who came from Alabama to clean beach cottages, and stayed to help millionaires keep house and raise their children.

Emma, a beloved and quirky eccentric, spent over 30 years working, living and walking from job to job, in Destin. From the 1960s through the 1990s, a time of great change in American politics, she shared both her wisdom and decline in later years. It will be a story by those who knew and loved her best.

But I need your help.

Does anyone know Emma? Or someone I should talk to about Emma? Sadly, many of her original benefactors and employers have passed away.

I need your help chronicling an unforgettable character, who has led an unforgettable life.

Athena Marler Creamer is a published author and Destin resident. Contact her at heiressarts@gmail.com