Janie porter barrett biography of christopher

Janie Porter Barrett (1865 -1948): Founder of the Locust Street Social Settlement (1890) and the Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls (1915)

Early Years: Janie Barrett, nee Porter was born in Athens, Georgia on August 9, 1865.

Janie porter barrett biography of christopher

Her mother, Julia Porter, was an African American; her father is unknown and possibly white. Barrett’s mother worked as a live-in housekeeper and seamstress for the Skinner family. The Skinners pampered Barrett and educated her along with their own children, with an education in literature and mathematics.

As such, her childhood was atypical of the African American community of that period soon after the Civil War.

Julia Porter later married a railway worker and lived with him while still working for the Skinners; however Janie Porter Barrett continued to live with the Skinners.

Mrs. Skinner wanted to become Janie’s legal guardian so that she could send her to a school in the northern Uni