The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-30
By DOLLY DALRYMPLE

As if she had stepped from an old per- trait in a massive gilt frame of yesterday into modernitys realms, Miss Nancy Bar bee, slight of form. dainty. charming, at tractive, appears the prototype of the belle of the long ago-the aristocratic lovely woman who brings with her into the busy. work-a-day world of today, an atmosphere of mimosa, and jasmine flow CTS and in her sweet, gentle, way Takes new world liberties with old world
 ease:
 Has but to please herself. the world to
 please,"
 Miss Barbee is a distinguished visitor to Birmingham at present and is receiving many charming attentions from friends whom she numbers by the score.
 Miss Barbee is one of the best known and most popular dialect readers of the day-her work ranking with that of Kitty Cheatham and other prominent southern women who have attained success at home and abroad.
 Miss Barbee is a native Kentuckian and comes of family in which slaves were inheritance and all her life she has known "colored people, in their home surroundings; the cook, the "black nanny" the house servants. the car riage driver-all were familiar to her as a child.
 One of her admirers once said of her in- imitable dialect stories which she tells on the platform:
 Her power of mimicry is marvellous,
 
 cork, or dramatis personae, Miss Barbee holds her hearers entranced, smiling, laughing, or weeping, as her tale goes on. In fact, she gives true minstrelsy on one string and provokes mirth and explosive laughter even more irresisitibly than a troop could do''
 In talking with Miss Barbee about her work and how she happened to fall into such pleasant lines with something that is so congenial, she said to me yesterday:
 Mine is a story not unlike that of many other southern women who have had to earn a livelihood for themselves, and finding such the case. scarcely know where to turn since by birth and breeding they were never trained for anything but ele- gance and ease. My father owned a large plantation in Kentucky, not far from Danville, and it was there that I grew up with the 'colored folks about me-friends and chumS Of my childhood days. 1 loved my old darkey 'mammy as much as l did any member of my family. and when the change in our financial condition came about and father, mother, sisters and brothers died. and the old plantation swept away from me, and I found myself with an invalid sister to support, it was the servants, and especially my old black nanny" to whom 1 turned and held a consultation as to what I should do."
 'I remember so distinctly said the charming little woman as she recalled the experience not without a sigh. how we sat out on the pack porch of the big house on the plantation and held council of war to speak. It was suggested that maybe I might keep boarders, but at that my very soul revolted, because l knew I couldn't. Various things were suggested and finally my sister said some thing about telling some of my negro stories on the platform. l had always done that sort of thing as child, and liked it, and my family and friends Nanny Liza heard the suggestion, she turned quickly and said: What dat you talkin erbout? Nigger direct stories What is dem? Does you mean hitss ter git up an tell folks my sayins an doins :? Well. femme tell you right now. Honey Chile, doan want you ter tell nuthn' Ise done CT sed, kaze l doan want de white folks ter be ratified wid my ramifications. Naw'mv That amused us, of course, but