ARCHIVE.
(BARRETT, Janie Porter and Harris). [Archive]: The Janie Porter Barrett Family Papers. [Hampton, Virginia: circa 1885-1970].
An important archive of personal papers and correspondence, books, photographs, and ephemera belonging to Janie Porter Barrett, a beloved African-American educator and social reformer, founder and president of the Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls; with additional personal papers, photographs, and ephemera belonging to her two daughters: Catherine and Julia Louise.
The collection contains over 30 books and pamphlets from the library of Janie Porter and her husband Harris Barrett, many are scarce first editions with ownership Signatures of Janie or Harris, including two books Inscribed by Mary White Ovington (suffragist and co-founder of the NAACP), and one Inscribed by Eleanor Roosevelt. The collection also contains about 25 family photographs, most of which date from the 1880s-1910s, several early photographs of Barrett’s Settlement and Industrial Schools, a large 1926 panoramic print of members of the National Association of Colored Women (that includes Barrett and Mary Bethune McLeod), and a print of Paul Robeson from the 1950s. Among Barrett’s personal papers are letters from several African-American leaders of the day (representing the NAACP, Fisk University, YMCA Serving Colored Men and Boys, and other organizations), including a personal letter from Ovington, and two holograph letters by Harris from 1913. The documents and ephemera all relate to Barrett’s Industrial School at Peak’s Turnout, Virginia: including property deeds, several newsletters, programs, invitations, and Janie Porter’s complete personal set of the School’s Annual Reports from 1916-1939.
Among the items belonging to Barrett’s daughters is a remarkable scrapbook archive of an African-American public school Girls’ athletic association organized in 1929 and led by Catherine Barrett Cooke in Gary, Indiana up through the 1960s. Included are all manner of mimeographed and printed ephemera, handmade paper regalia and cloth emblems, and over 50 black and white photographs of team portraits and sporting events, and several social events (banquets and debutante dances), dating from the 1930s-1960s. Highlights from the smaller archive of materials belonging to her daughter Julia includes correspondence from Luther H. Foster (head of the Tuskegee Institute), and several manuscripts of speeches, including: “Political and Social Gains of the Negro Then and Now,” from 1957, and “Where Are We Now?” a message on freedom and equality given on Women’s Day in 1967.
The daughter of a former slave and an acknowledged Caucasian father, Janie Porter Barrett was given an exemplary education and might well have lived as a white person, had her mother not intervened and sent her to the Hampton Institute in Virginia, where she lived in the African-American environment. There she met her husband Harris Barrett, a pioneering African-American businessman, who in 1890 supported her in the establishment, on their property, of the Locust Street Settlement of Hampton, the first community center for African-Americans in America. The Settlement expanded its activities under her leadership, and in 1908 she organized and led the Virginia State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. In 1915 she established the Industrial School, a residential “Industrial Home for Wayward Girls,” that became a model rehabilitation center for African-American female juvenile delinquents. Barrett was the driving force behind the success of the school, both in developing its innovative programs that won national recognition, and in securing private and state funding which provided for its expanding enrollment to about 100 girls. Her daughter Catherine was Instructor of Physical Education at Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana, where she organized and led the Roosevelt Girls’ Athletic Association from 1929 up through the 1960s; her other daughter Julia lived in Petersburg, Virginia, where she was Director of Admissions and Registrar at Virginia State College until her retirement in 1965.
A compelling collection of papers and documents from the Barrett family. A detailed list is available upon request.
I. Books/Pamphlets/Ephemera
1. ANDREWS, E.A. *Slavery and the Domestic Slave-Trade in the United States*. Boston: Light & Stearns, 1 Cornhill. 1836. First edition. Signed by Janie Porter Barrett: “Barrett” on the front pastedown. 12mo. Original publisher’s dark blue cloth and printed paper spine label. Bookplate: Locust Street Social Settlement Library. Very good. Note: The Locust Street Social Settlement was founded by Barrett in 1890.
2. ANDERSON, Matthew. *Presbyterianism. Its Relation to the Negro*. Philadelphia, P.A.: John McGill White & Co., (1897). First edition. Signed by Janie Porter Barrett: “Barrett” on front pastedown, and: “Ernestine Suarez, Hampton Institute, May 1901” on front free endpaper. (Suarez was Librarian of the Hampton Institute from 1901-1907). 12mo. Publisher’s maroon cloth boards. Very good.
3. BARNETT, G.B. *The Hamites*. Shawneetown, Ill.: News Printing Establishment, 1894. First edition. Inscribed by Barnett underneath his wood-engraved portrait: “Compliments of G.B. Barnett, Principal of Du Quoin Grammer School, Du Quoin, Illinois, Box 166.” Printed wrappers (stitched). 12mo. 30pp. Front wrap is detached and discolored, lacking the rear wrap, text pages are toned, chipping at the edges, fair.
4. BARRETT, Harris. *Negro Folk Songs*. (Press of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton, Virginia, 1912). Reprinted from *The Southern Workman* for April 1912. Octavo. Printed wraps (stapled). 10pp. Fine. (two copies).
5. BARRETT, Janie Porter. *Annual Report of the Industrial Home School for Colored Girls*. Peake’s Turnout, Hanover County, Virginia. A complete run of 24 individual issues: First Annual Report (1916) – Twenty-fourth Annual Report (1939). Seven issues (1928-1934) are Signed by Janie Porter Barrett: “Barrett” on the front wrap. Octavos. Each issue in printed wraps (stapled) and illustrated with photographs. Some issues have two stab holes on the left margin and creasing to the corners, scattered short tears to the edges, overall very good. Barrett retired in 1940.
6. (BARRETT, Janie Porter, Chester B. Himes, Lena Horne). *The Crisis, A Record of the Darker Races - January 1943*. New York: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, January 1943. Contains tribute with full-page photo of Barrett: “First Ladies of Colored America - No. 5” and the first printed appearance of: “Two Soldiers,” a short story by Chester B. Himes, and front cover photo of Lena Horne. (two copies)
7. (BARRETT, Janie Porter, and Others): *The Southern Workman* (12 monthly issues). Hampton, Virginia: Press of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. 12 separate monthly issues in original wraps: (July 1904, September 1912, November 1915, June 1916, August 1916, February 1917, August 1918, October 1919, August 1921, July 1923, July 1926, August 1926). Ink annotations by Janie Porter Barrett: indicating articles written by Barrett, and articles about her and her schools. One issue is Signed by Barrett on the front wrap (July 1923). Scattered short tears to the edges, overall very good.
8. BROWN, Hallie Q. *Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction*. (Xenia, Ohio: The Aldine Publishing Company, 1926). First edition. Inscribed: "Hallie Q. Brown, “Homewood Cottage, Wilberforce, Ohio, Jan. 1927.” Octavo. Publisher’s dark green cloth. Darkening to the boards, old dampstain, fair.
9. BUNCHE, Ralph. *Human Relations and World Peace, an Address. Bulletin of Gustavus Adolphus College, July 1950*. First edition. Owner’s signature: “J.H. Johnston” on the front wrap. Printed wraps (stapled). [20]pp. Near fine.
10. CARNEGIE, Andrew. *The Negro in America, An Address Delivered before the Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh, 16th October 1907*. Cheyney, PA.: Committee of Twelve for the Advancement of the Interests of the Negro Race, (1907). First American edition. Printed wraps (stapled). 12mo. 32pp., frontispiece portrait. Wraps are split along the spine, good.
11. *Catalog of Paintings and Biographical Sketch of William Arthur Cooper*. Charlotte, N.C.: A.M.E. Zion Print, May 18, 1935. Illustrated wraps (stapled). 4pp.
12. DANIEL, Sadie Iola. *Women Builders*. Washington, D.C.: The Associated Publishers, Inc., (1931). First edition. 12mo. Publisher’s brown cloth. Spine gilt is faded, about near fine.
13. [COLLINS, Sarah]: FERNANDIS, Sarah Collins. *Poems*. Boston: Richard G. Badger, The Gorham Press, (1925). First edition. Inscribed: “To the beloved Barretts with the lifetime affection of the author.” 12mo. Publisher’s cloth boards with a printed paper label on the front cover. Lacking the spine back, both boards are detached, else good.
14. (FRISSELL, Hollis Burke). *Race Problems of the South. Report of the Proceedings of the First Annual Conference held under the auspices of The Southern Society for the Promotion of the Study of Race Conditions and Problems in the South*. Richmond, Virginia: B.F. Johnson Publishing Company, (1900). Octavo. Printed wraps. Clear tape on the spine and some staining on the wraps, scattered chipping at the edges, good. Inscribed by H.B. Frissell to Harris Barrett. Contains a speech by Frissell: “Popular Education in the South.” Frissell was Principal of the Hampton Institute, and a correspondent with W.E.B. Dubois.
15. GREGORY, James M. *Frederick Douglass the Orator*. Springfield, Mass.: Willey & Co., 1893. First edition. Signed: “Barrett” on the front pastedown. 12mo. Publisher’s dark blue cloth boards. Two leaves are detached (pp. 39-42), some fading and soiling to the boards, hinges are partially split and tender, else a good only sound copy.
16. (Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute). *Twenty-two Years’ Work of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute at Hampton, Virginia. Records of Negro and Indian Graduates and ex-Students*. Hampton: Normal School Press, 1893. First edition. Signed: “Barrett” on the front pastedown. Octavo. Publisher’s light brown cloth boards. Good. Includes lengthy entries on Janie A. Porter and Harris Barrett before they were married (see pp. 209, 229, 255).
17. (Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute). *[Roster]: Class of 1871 – Class of 1898*. First edition. Octavo. Wraps. 247pp. Lacking the front wrap (and title page); with Harris Barrett’s ownership stamp: "Harris Barrett, Hampton, Va.” and date stamp “May 1898” on the rear wrap. Roster includes: Booker T. Washington (Class of 1875); Harris [and] Mrs. Harris Barrett (Class of 1885 and 1884).
18. [COLLINS, Sara] (Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute). *Some Hampton Verses*. Printed for the 1893 reunion. One letterpress sheet (folded), with lyrics for five songs by Sara A. Collins and H.W. Ludlow.
19. HANCOCK, Gordon B. *Love’s Creation*. Richmond, Virginia, June 23, 1946. Printed wraps (stapled). 8pp. Inscribed to Janie Porter Barrett on the front wrap.
20. (Industrial Home School for Colored Girls). *Pictorial Record of the Virginia Industrial School*. Richmond: Division of Purchase and Printing, 1932. First edition. Printed wraps (stapled). Oblong octavo. [28]pp. Fine.
21. JAMES, Arthur W. *Virginia’s Social Awakening*. Richmond, Virginia: Garrett and Massie, (1939). First edition. Octavo. Publisher’s dark blue cloth boards. Very good. Presentation Inscription by Henry Lee Robinson, Jr. to Barrett: “To our good friend, Mrs. Janie Porter Barrett whose life has been given in Christian Service to God, to Humanity, and to Her Race. From Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lee Robinson, Jr. July 1, 1940 Richmond, Va.”
22. *Marian Anderson: A Decade of Great Song in America*. S. Hurok’s Concert Hall of Fame for Season 1945-1946. New York: Hurok Attractions. Folio. Printed wrapper (stapled). [16]pp.
23. (Morehouse College). *John Hope*. Augusta, Georgia, (1936). First edition. Printed paste-paper wrapper (stapled). [8]pp., frontispiece portrait.
24. *[Newsletter]: The Open Door*. Wickliffe, Ohio: The Phillis Wheatley Association, April 1934. One monthly issue addressed to Janie Porter Barrett, with a lead article on African-American composer and pianist R. Nathaniel Deet: “A Rare Treat for Music Lovers.”
25. OVINGTON, Mary White. *Phillis Wheatley (A Play)*. Printed by the Schulte Press, 80 Fourth Ave., New York, 1932. First edition. 12mo. [2], [1-2] 3-20pp. Printed wrappers (stapled). Some soiling to the wraps, about very good. Inscribed to Barrett: “For Janie Porter Barrett, with love, Mary White Ovington, May 31, 1932.” Partial inscription on next page: “For my dear”
26. OVINGTON, Mary White. *Zeke*. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, (1931). First edition. Octavo. Publisher’s dark blue cloth boards. Very good. Inscribed to Barrett: “For Janie Porter Barrett hoping she will approve of my attempt to depict school life. Mary White Ovington.”
27. ROBERTSON, William J. *The Changing South*. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1927. First edition. Signed by Janie Porter Barrett: “Jamie Porter Barrett, Va. Industrial School, Peak’s Turnout, Va.” Octavo. Very good.
28. (ROOSEVELT, Eleanor). CARROLL, Lewis. *Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass and The Hunting of the Snark*. Washington: National Home Library Foundation, 1932. Jacket Library edition, first edition thus. 12mo. Printed wraps. Front wrap and spine reinforced with clear tape, lacking the rear wrap, else very good. Introduction by Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt. Inscribed by Eleanor Roosevelt to Louise Barrett: “Eleanor to Louise, Aug. 23, 1932”.
29. (SAMPSON, Bernice Nelson). *Fortieth Annual Convention of the Virginia Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, June 24 to June 27, 1947*. Contains “A Tribute to Our Founder Mrs. Janie Porter Barrett”: “God’s Emissary” by Bernice Nelson Sampson. Signed by Sampson on the front wrap. Folio. Printed wraps. 16pp., illustrated. Spine reinforced with tape, else very good.
30. *Virginia Manual Labor School for Colored Boys Hanover, Virginia, Thirteenth Biennial Report to the General Assembly of Virginia, Covering Period from May 31, 1923 to May 31, 1925, and the Additional Seven Month to January 1, 1926*. (Hanover, Virginia). Printed wraps (stapled). 24pp., two folded photographs.
31. WALLACE, James. *Segregation on Common Carriers*. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Christian Fellowship Commission of the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen, 1947. First edition. Illustrated wraps (stapled). [28]pp. Inscribed on the front wrap, very good.
32. WILSON, Ellen Dickson. *The Aunt Hannah Stories*. (Press of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton, Virginia, 1912). Reprinted from *The Southern Workman*. Inscribed by the author to Janie Porter Barrett on the front wrap. Octavo. Printed wraps (stapled). 20pp. Very good.
33. WOOD, Odella Phelps. *Recaptured Echoes*. New York: The Exposition Press, (1944). First edition. Inscribed to Louise Barrett. 12mo. Publisher’s dark red cloth. Hinges are split, else about very good. Contemporary newspaper review (clipping) laid-in.
II. Personal Papers
A. Correspondence
1. BARRETT, Harris. Two ALS. Quartos. Each 2pp. Both to his daughter May. Hampton, Va.: Feb’y 24 [and] May 17, 1913. Written on the People’s Building and Loan Association stationary (which he founded).
2. BARRETT, Janie Porter. TLS. Quarto. 1p. Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls, Peak’s Turnout, VA.: February, 1930.
3. CALIVER, Ambrose. (Senior Specialist in the Education of Negroes). TLS. Quarto. 1p. United States Department of the Interior, Washington, DC: November 19, 1932.
Letters to Janie P. Barrett:
4. GLOVER, Katherine. (Editor). TLS. 1p. with two enclosures. White House Conference on Child Health and Protection, Washington, D.C.: June 14, 1932.
5. MORRISON, Emily F. (Superintendent). TLS. Quarto. 1p. Sleighton Farm, Darlington, Delaware County PA: June 4, 1932.
6. OVINGTON, Mary White. [Suffragist, author, co-founder of the NAACP]. TLS. Octavo. 1p. 12 East 97th Street, New York City: May 31 [1932].
7. JOHNSON, Charles S. (Director). TLS. Quarto. 1p. Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee: December 9, 1937.
8. SCHUYLER, George S. TLS. Octavo. 1p. with envelop. *The Crisis, A Record of the Darker Races*, New York, NY: August 10, 1942.
9. TOBIAS, C.H. (Executive Secretary). TLS. Quarto. 1p. Young Men’s Christian Associations Serving Colored Men and Boys, New York, NY: September 27, 1938.
10. WHITE, Walter. (Acting Secretary). TLS. Quarto. 1p. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, New York: May 13, 1930.
B. Documents
1. BARRETT, Janie, P. Deed of Trust, Signed: between Janie P. Barrett and Harris Barrett, February 1, 1915.
2. BARRETT, Janie, P. Will, February 11, 1931 (Copy); and TLS. Quarto. 2pp., Re: Examination of title for Barrett, Hampton, Virginia: January 2, 1953.
3. Autograph document. Quarto. 2 sheets. Needle and Book Club. “Resolution”: manuscript memorial testament to Janie P. Barrett. Hampton, Va.: August 30, 1948.
C. Ephemera
Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls:
1. About 15 pieces of printed ephemera: pamphlets, programs, invitations, and tickets.
2. About 10 newspaper clippings.
III. Photographs
1. BARRETT, Janie, P.
-Two early portraits: 5” x 7” (circa 1885); 6.5” x 10.5” (circa 1895).
-Three later portraits (about 4.5” x 7”); and one snapshot (circa 1940).
-One print: about 8” x 8” (circa 1945).
2. BARRETT Family.
-Three mounted portraits: Harris Barrett’s parents? (circa 1880s).
-Four loose early prints: Harris and Janie P. Barrett?
-Five cabinet cards and four small platinum prints of the children: May, Harry, Louise, and Catherine Barrett (circa 1890s-1910).
-One 8” x 10” print: “Senior Academic Class, Hartshorn Memorial College, 1923” (an African-American Baptist women's college in Richmond, Va.)
3. Locust Street Social Settlement, circa 1890s (Hampton, Virginia)
-One 10” x 8” print: “En route to Bay Shore (Buckroe Beach) for Baby Day Picnic.”
-One 8” x 5” print: “Lunch Time, Baby Day Picnic, Bay Shore Hotel.
4. Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls (circa 1915)
-One print (about 5.5” x 3”): “Farm Cottage, Peak’s Turnout, Virginia … birthplace of the Virginia Industrial School.”
5. National Association of Colored Women, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1926
–One rolled print (about 8” x 36”): panoramic view of a group of women, including Mary Bethune McLeod and Janie Barrett.
6. ROBESON, Paul.
-One print (5” x 7”). Paul Robeson with seven ladies (circa 1950).
IV. Catherine Barrett Cooke
Biographical note: Instructor of physical education at Roosevelt High School (Gary, Indiana). She organized (in 1929) and led the (Roosevelt) Girls’ Athletic Association, an extra curricular physical education program for girls in the Gary Public School System (comprising eight high schools); married to Tindolph D. Cooke.
1. Scrapbook, 1929-1969
An archive of the Roosevelt Girls’ Athletic Association, Gary, Indiana
Portfolio. Cloth boards with string ties (10” x 16”). Contains about 16 leaves of materials tipped-in on both sides, and additional materials laid-in. With typescript and manuscript captions. The paper leaves are browned and chipped, some elements are detached, else very good. A scrapbook archive consisting of:
-Mimeographed and printed documents: constitution, various programs and handbooks, etc.
-Black and white photographs (with negatives): several large and small prints of the Girls’ Hockey Team and other teams, and of various Association leaders; 11 (7” x 5”) prints of the 25th Banquet (1956); 8 snapshots (1959); 14 (8” x 10”) prints of banquets and debutante dances (1964-1969).
-Hand-made paper regalia, cloth emblems and ribbons, etc.
-Printed ephemera (newsletter clippings, tickets and invitations).
2. Miscellaneous Personal Papers
-COOKE, Tindolph. Birth certificate and other documents (1902-1963); mounted 4” x 5.5” albumen portrait (c. 1920).
-BARRETT, Catherine: Early portrait photograph in quarto portfolio (Cheyne’s Studio, Hampton, Va.).
-Two color snapshots of Catherine and Tindolph (1958).
-Marriage certificate and license: Goldie Cooke and Fern L. Reed. Indianapolis, Indiana: January 16, 1946.
3. Ephemera
-[Program]: The Wiz. Quarto. Stapled wraps. [1976].
-The Gary City Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. Fourteenth Annual Debutante Cotillion and Banquet. June 8, 1985. Thick quarto in stapled wraps.
-[Typed Papers]. Portfolios. Two annotated history papers on the life of Janie Porter Barrett with original and photocopied documents enclosed (1983 and 1998).
V. Julia Louise Barrett
Biographical note: Director of Admissions and Registrar, Virginia State College, Petersburg, Virginia; she retired in 1965.
A. Manuscripts (1955-1967)
1. BARRETT, J. Louise. [Typescript]: “Political and Social Gains of the Negro Then and Now.” Annotated typescript of a speech given at the Treble Clef and Book Lover’s Club in Richmond, Virginia, February 6, 1957: 10pp., on ten octavo sheets, along with a copy of the program (one mimeographed quarto sheet).
2. BARRETT, J. Louise. [Typescripts and Holographs; Typed and Autograph letters, Signed]: A file folder containing eight presentations given by J. Louise Barrett at Virginia State College, Virginia State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, Peabody High School, and Spelman College, 1955-1965.
3. BARRETT, J. Louise. [Typescript]: “Where are we now?” a message on “freedom and equality in America.” Annotated typescript of a Message given on Women’s Day at the First A.M.E. Church in Gary, Indiana, May 14, 1967: 10pp., on ten quarto sheets, along with a copy of the printed program.
B. Correspondence to J. Louise Barrett
1. COOKE, Catherine Barrett (Sister)
-ALS. Quarto. 6pp., with envelope; Gary, Indiana: May 19, 1948.
-ALS. Octavo. 13pp., with newspaper clipping enclosed and envelope; Gary, Indiana: June 23 [1963].
2. FOSTER, Luther H.
(President, Virginia State College; Head, Tuskegee Institute)
-TLS. Quarto. 1p. Virginia State College, Petersburg, Virginia: September 23, 1948.
-TLS. Octavo. 1p. Tuskegee Institute, Alabama: May 27, 1965.
3. JAMES, Edward T.
(Editor, Notable American Women, 1607-1950)
-Two TLS. Quartos. 3pp., with MS insert and four photos laid-in, envelopes. Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts: March 17; April 24, 1964.
4. Eight TLS/ALS, two cards (1948-1988). Unidentified correspondents.
C. Personal Papers
Four photographs (2 black and white prints and 2 color snapshots); birth certificate (copy) and property blueprint; printed ephemera.
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