An autobiography, in chapters

well, hello there, friend

From the cotton fields to a life of joy.

I’m Margarett — a physician, inventor, quilter and storyteller who grew up picking cotton in the Mississippi Delta and never stopped believing a little girl’s dream could come true.

Her inventions have appeared on

  • CNN
  • The Today Show
  • The Ellen DeGeneres Show
  • Rachael Ray
  • The Tonight Show

Prologue

“How did a little girl from the poverty-stricken Mississippi Delta end up with more blessings than anyone, including myself, could ever imagine?”

It was the late seventies, and the dream of becoming a doctor seemed nearly impossible for a Black woman from rural Mississippi. This is the story of how foundation, faith and favor carried her anyway — told one chapter at a time.

IChapter one · The 1950s

Roots in the Delta soil.

Long before the white coat, there were long rows of cotton under a punishing Mississippi sun. Margarett grew up in Hernando with very little money and a great deal of love — and learned early that hard work, family and faith could carry a person a very long way.

In summer, the children slipped away to pick wild blackberries along the fence lines. Those sweet, stained-finger afternoons became the memories she would one day build a book around.

A memory
“We didn’t have much, but we had each other, we had the Lord — and every July, we had blackberries.”
Placeholder excerpt — swap in a favorite line from the book
IIChapter two · Alcorn A&M

The Golden Girl.

A full scholarship carried her to Alcorn A&M in Lorman, Mississippi. In 1968 she joined the Golden Girls — the majorette troupe that would become an Alcorn legend and internationally known — and she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

  • Full scholarship
  • B.S. Biology, cum laude
  • Golden Girls majorette
  • Delta Sigma Theta, life member
IIIChapter three · The late 70s

A near-impossible dream, made real.

At a time when gender and racial bias discouraged women like her from earning a medical degree, she refused to let obstacles decide her future. Medical school in Minnesota, residency back home in Mississippi, public health in Atlanta — and a long career caring for people who needed it most.

  • Doctor of MedicineUniversity of Minnesota
  • ResidencyUniversity of Mississippi Medical Center
  • Master of Public HealthEmory University
  • Preventive MedicineMorehouse School of Medicine

Where she practiced

Jackson Hinds Comprehensive Health Center · Georgia Disability Adjudication Program · Fulton County Correctional Facility, Medical Director · Crawford Long & Hughes Spalding Hospitals, Emergency Care · Atlanta Medical Center, Occupational Medicine · Emory University School of Medicine, Assistant Professor · Grady Health System, Employee Health

IVChapter four · Many hands

A doctor who never stopped making things.

Inventor, quilter, urban farmer, wine master — her curiosity has never fit inside one job title.

The inventor

The Snazzy Napper™

Her travel blanket invention took her from a sewing table to national television — CNN, The Today Show, Ellen, Conan, The Tonight Show and Rachael Ray.

Shop the Snazzy Napper
The quilter

Stories stitched by hand

An accomplished quilter who carries on a tradition of African American quilt art.

The farmer

Metro Atlanta Urban Farm

Co-founder, business manager and medical consultant to a farm growing health in the city.

The keeper

Wine master & preserver

Fruit wines, jams and preserves — Delta recipes kept alive, one jar at a time.

The giver

Bobby V Foundation

Executive director of the foundation, and business manager for the Bobby V Touring Company.

Cover of Blackberry Memories by Margarett Bachus Wilson
VChapter five · The author

Blackberry Memories

The unforgettable story of a little girl’s foundation, faith and favor that led her to a life of joy from a world of poverty.

Her memoir chronicles a childhood in the rural Mississippi Delta of the 1950s and 60s, the challenges of gender and race in that era and beyond, and the journey from the cotton fields to Alcorn, Minnesota, Morehouse and Emory — and to a life led by faith.

Foreword by
Bobby V
Special insert
Quilt art by Mrs. Bertha Bachus
Order on AmazonBarnes & Noble, not yet availableSigned copy
Dr. Wilson holding her book beside a Blackberry Memories banner
Launch evening
Dr. Wilson signing a copy of Blackberry Memories at a book table
A signing table, Atlanta

On the road

Come say hello in person.

Book signings, church gatherings, book clubs and festivals — Dr. Wilson loves meeting readers face to face.

[DATE]Book signing & reading[VENUE], Atlanta, GARSVP
[DATE]Women in Medicine luncheon[VENUE], [CITY]RSVP
[DATE]Book club conversation (virtual)OnlineRSVP

Epilogue

Home, family & faith.

Today Margarett lives in Atlanta with her husband, Bobby. She is the proud mother of Arletha Michelle and Bobby V — and she will tell anyone who asks that every blessing traces back to her faith and her family.

“Margarett Ann, as her family calls her, is not what she has been through. She radiates positivity in her every breath.”

Arle Michel
Portrait of Dr. Margarett Bachus Wilson in a red silk blouse and pearls
Margarett Ann
Dr. Wilson in a red jacket outdoors
home, Atlanta

family first, faith always — and save me some blackberries.

Write to Margarett

Invite her to speak, or just say hello.

Keynotes, book clubs, women’s ministries, and conversations on perseverance and women in medicine. Signed and bulk book orders welcome.

Letters from Margarett

An occasional note with new chapters, recipes from the Delta, events and quilting stories.

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