Born on January 24, 1857, in Falmouth, Virginia, Kate Waller spent her childhood, except for the Civil War years, on the family estate and completed her private education with two years at the Arlington Institute for Girls in Alexandria. In July 1876 she married the Reverend Robert S. Barrett. She accompanied him to parishes in Richmond, 1876╨1880, Henderson, Kentucky, 1880╨1886, and Atlanta, 1886╨1894. While still in Richmond, she became interested in the plight of prostitutes and unwed mothers. She first sought a practical education in this field of social work, traveling to London to take the course at the Florence Nightingale Training School and St. Thomas╒s Hospital and in 1889 entering the Women╒s Medical College of Georgia, from which she received an M.D. degree in 1892. In that year she contacted Charles N. Crittenton, businessman turned evangelist and missionary to ╥fallen women,╙ who had opened four homes for such women in California. With a contribution from him she opened a home in Atlanta in 1893, the fifth of the Florence Crittenton chain (named for Crittenton╒s deceased daughter). In 1894 the Barretts moved to Washington, D.C., where Reverend Barrett died in 1896.
Dr. Barrett continued to work with the National Florence Crittenton Mission, established in 1895, and in 1897 became vice-president and general superintendent of the organization. Crittenton himself held the title of president, but Dr. Barrett was effectively in charge of the nationwide chain of more than 50 semi-autonomous homes. She founded a magazine, a training program, and a conference series for the workers in the missions and in 1903 published Some Practical Suggestions on the Conduct of a Rescue Home. In December 1909, following Crittenton╒s death, she succeeded to the presidency of the national organization, retaining the post of general superintendent as well; she continued both jobs until her death. Under her administration the tenor of care in Florence Crittenton homes gradually changed from evangelism to training in maternal skills and vocational guidance. In 1909 Dr. Barrett was invited to the White House Conference for the Care of Dependent Children, and in 1914 she was a special representative of the Labor Department on a commission investigating the treatment of women deported from the United States on morals grounds. She was also active in the National Council of Women, serving as corresponding secretary in 1899╨1903, vice-president at large in 1903╨1911, and president in 1911╨1916. She served as vice-president of the Virginia Equal Suffrage League from 1909 to 1920 and as president of the National Women╒s Auxiliary of the American Legion in 1922╨1923. She died in Alexandria, Virginia, on February 23, 1925.
