WHY WE’RE HEREWe’re exploring how America defines itself one place at a time.
In Beaufort, N.C., a group of women offers a window into what contemporary aging can be in a nation that is rapidly getting older.
“If you want to say something,” one woman hollered above the din, “you better scream it!”Ms. Barnes’s home is not a sorority house — she is 86 years old.
“We’re not very contained,” said Ms. Barnes, who is the Queen Mother of the group.
The Belles are a chapter of The Sweet Potato Queens — an international network of more than 6,500 women’s groups that aim for a similar balance of amusement and mutual support.
Persons:
Martha Barnes’s, Barnes’s, —, “, ”, Barnes
Locations:
Beaufort, N.C