Kate Waller Barrett
| Kate Waller Barrett | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | January 24, 1857 Falmouth, Virginia |
| Died | February 23, 1925 (aged 68) |
| Resting place | Aquia Church, Stafford, Virginia |
| Residence | Alexandria, Virginia |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Katherine Harwood Waller |
| Alma mater | Women's Medical College of Georgia |
| Occupation | Physician, humanitarian, social service leader |
| Organization | National Florence Crittenton Mission |
| Spouse(s) | Rev. Robert South Barrett |
| Parent(s) | Withers Waller and Ann Eliza Stribbling Waller |
Kate Waller Barrett (January 24, 1857 – February 23, 1925), née Katherine Harwood Waller, was a prominent Virginia physician, humanitarian, philanthropist, sociologist and social reformer, best known for her leadership of the National Florence Crittenton Mission, which she founded in 1895 with Charles Nelson Crittenton. Her causes included helping the "outcast woman, the mistreated prisoner, those lacking in educational and social opportunity, the voteless woman, and the disabled war veteran." Although comparatively little known today, she was "[o]ne of the most prominent women of her time".
Barrett was born Katherine Harwood Waller at her family's historic estate, Clifton, in Falmouth, Virginia, to Ann Eliza Stribbling Waller and Withers Waller on January 24, 1857. Her family owned slaves on several large plantations, and Barrett's two young black playmates named Jane and Lucy were "given" to young Kate as a birthday gift on her sixth birthday by her grandmother. Later regretting these circumstances, Barrett stated "I looked upon them as mine by 'divine right' and many were the lessons of cruelty and lack of appreciation of the rights of others cultivated in me."
Katherine Waller attended Arlington Institute for Girls in Alexandria, Virginia, after the Civil War. On July 19, 1876, she married Robert South Barrett (1851–1896), a young Episcopal minister fresh out of seminary, who had been recently assigned to the nearby Aquia Church. It was while traveling with and assisting her husband with his work in Virginia, Kentucky and Georgia, that she first witnessed the social problems which would form the impetus for her life's work.
In particular, soon after Robert South Barrett, Jr., the first of their six children, was born in Richmond, Virginia, a young unmarried woman with her own child begged for help at their door. The Barretts provided the young woman with a meal and listened as she told of being deserted by a man who had promised marriage. Barrett recognized the similarities between herself and the young woman, and concluded that only luck separated her from the young woman in her home; one of them had fallen in love with a "good" man and one with a "bad" one. Furthermore, from her own experiences as a slaveholder and with Jim Crow laws, Barrett also realized how spirits could be broken by degradation. Profoundly moved by her new-found bond with this "fallen" woman, she vowed, "By the power of God that rules the Universe, I would spend my life trying to wipe out some of the inequalities that were meted out to my sisters who were so helpless to help themselves."
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