Born: 24 January 1857, United States
Died: 23 February 1925
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Kate Harwood Waller
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Kate Waller Barrett was a prominent Virginia physician, humanitarian, and social reformer, founding the National Florence Crittenton Mission in 1895 with Charles Nelson Crittenton. It focused on helping marginalized women, prisoners, and those with limited educational opportunities.
Despite coming from a slave-owning family, Barrett’s dedication to addressing inequalities led her to become a physician. She secured the first federal charter for the National Florence Crittenton Mission, overseeing over 70 homes across the United States, with a focus on unmarried mothers and a gradual shift away from prostitution.
Barrett also addressed racial issues within her work by establishing a “colored mission” and supporting African American women’s engagement in rescue and maternity home work. She contributed to the creation of Florence Crittenton maternity hospitals, prioritizing women’s well-being.
Additionally, Barrett was a political activist, advocating for women’s rights, suffrage, and social reform. She served as a delegate for various causes and was involved in preserving historic buildings and sites in her local community.
The following is shared from the Encyclopedia Virginia, in line with the Creative Commons licensing.
Kate Waller Barrett was a prominent physician, social reformer, humanitarian, and leader of the National Florence Crittenton Mission, a progressive organization established in 1883 to assist unmarried women and teenage girls who either had children or were trying to leave prostitution.
Barrett was born Katherine Waller in Falmouth on January 24, probably in 1857, when her father reported the birth of a daughter named Hannah C. Waller to the county clerk, although she later reported her year of birth as 1859 and her gravestone is inscribed 1858. She was known throughout her life as Kate and evidently did not use the names Hannah or Harwood. Her parents were Ann Eliza Stribbling Waller and Withers Waller. She attended Arlington Institute for Girls in Alexandria. On July 19, 1876, she married Robert Barrett, an Episcopal minister. The couple eventually had six children. With her husband’s encouragement, she continued her education, earning a medical degree from the Women’s College of Georgia, in Atlanta, in 1892 and completing the nursing course in 1894 at the Florence Nightingale Training School in London.
While in Atlanta, Barrett had attempted to open a shelter for unwed mothers, despite opposition from church and city officials. She was later successful in securing funding from Charles Nelson Crittenton, a wealthy New York wholesale druggist who, in 1883, had established a shelter for young prostitutes, unwed mothers, and their infants on Bleecker Street. He had named the facility for his four-year-old daughter Florence, who had died the year before. By 1895, the Florence Crittenton Mission became a national movement and local centers were established across the United States.
Following her husband’s death in 1896, Barrett became superintendent of the National Florence Crittenton Mission and, following Mr. Crittenton’s death in 1909, became its president. Barrett’s leadership advanced the organization’s national prominence and established her as one of the leading social reformers of her time. The mission provided health care, education, and vocational training to unwed mothers, needy immigrant women, reformed prostitutes, and women who had contracted venereal diseases. Barrett and the work carried out by the mission were an integral part of the effort to end prostitution.
Barrett wrote several books describing her approach to social reform, including Fourteen Years’ Work Among Erring Girls (1901) and Some Practical Suggestions on the Conduct of a Rescue Home (1903). Her philosophy emphasized spiritual rebirth through motherhood and promoted the advantages of homemaking and domesticity. Against the conventional wisdom of her time, Barrett advocated that children remain with their mothers and nurse them for six months or longer. Women under her care were expected to cook, clean, and care for children. Barrett also established vocational training programs designed to encourage women to live independently and to better care for themselves and their children.
Barrett supported woman suffrage and served as honorary vice president of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia. She served as president of the American Legion Auxiliary and the National Council of Women and was active in the National Congress of Mothers, the National Prison Association, and the League of Women Voters. Barrett also sat on the board of the College of William and Mary.
Kate Waller Barrett died at her home in Alexandria in 1925. The Kate Waller Barrett Branch of the Alexandria Library was built in 1937 as a memorial to Barrett. Her name is also attached to an elementary school in Stafford, Virginia.
Major Works
Fourteen Years’ Work Among Erring Girls (1901)
Some Practical Suggestions on the Conduct of a Rescue Home (1903)
TIMELINE
January 24, 1857: Kate Waller Barrett is born in Falmouth.
July 19, 1876: Kate Waller marries Robert Barrett.
1892: Kate Waller Barrett earns a medical degree from the Women’s College of Georgia.
1894: Kate Waller Barrett completes the nursing course at the Florence Nightingale Training School in London.
1895: Kate Waller Barrett, after establishing the Florence Crittenton Mission more than ten years earlier, helps the mission become a national movement where local centers for single mothers are opened across the country.
1909: After the death of Charles Nelson Crittenton, Kate Waller Barrett becomes the president of the National Florence Crittenton Mission.
1925: Kate Waller Barrett dies at her home in Alexandria.