Summary

The story starts with the narrator (whose name we do not learn until later in the story) comparing Monday morning in modern Jefferson to the Jefferson of his youth 15 years before. He starts by describing how Jefferson has been modernized with the addition of paved streets, power lines and the cutting down of trees. He also notes how laundry is now picked up and delivered by professionals in trucks or by "Negro" women who drive cars.

He then goes on to describe how the Negro women collected laundry 15 years before. The laundry would be bundled up and carried on the women's heads to their cabins in "Negro's Hollow" for washing.

The narrator then describes his how family's washing woman Nancy would carry their laundry on her head along with her cap. He also discusses her agility, which allows her to keep...