Alexandria, Va., Honors Progressive-Era Advocate Kate Waller Barrett, Washington Post Columnist Writes

Washington Post columnist John Kelly recently examined the legacy of Kate Waller Barrett, a Progressive-era advocate who worked to improve the lives of sex workers and women who gave birth out of wedlock. On Thursday, the city of Alexandria, Va., honored Barrett by declaring May 20 to be Kate Waller Barrett Day and unveiling a plaque at a local library named after the activist, who died in 1925.

According to Kelly, "At a time when such social ills as prostitution and out-of-wedlock childbirth were not thought appropriate subjects for polite society, [Barrett] rolled up her sleeves and plunged in."

Kelly continues, "Barrett said it was the arrival of an unwed mother at her door, clutching a child in the rain and desperate for a handout, that spurred her to action." Barrett became a doctor and went on to open the Florence Crittenton Home for Unfortunate Women, where residents learned skills such as nursing, cooking and sewing. Kelly notes, "There was a nursery for the children" because "Barrett didn't approve of taking them from their mothers and putting them up for adoption" (Kelly, Washington Post, 5/20).


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