Portrait of Janie Porter Barrett

Barrett Daycare Center: A Brief History

The Barrett Daycare Center, formerly the Janie Porter Barrett Day Nursery, is the oldest day care center in the State of Virginia. Named after Mrs. Janie Porter Barrett, an African-American teacher whose life was dedicated to the education of African-American children in Virginia, the center was organized in the Fall of 1935 by Daisy V. Green, a registered nurse of Petersburg, Virginia and former employee of the Charlottesville City Health Department and supported by the Works Project Administration of the Education Department. The Nursery was originally located in a building owned by Courtney D. Goodloe at 126 Fourth Street, N.W. This small facility served as the Nursery's home until August 1940, when it closed upon Mrs. Greene's departure. In January 1941, the Nursery re-opened under the same name and still under the support of the WPA. After the WPA was liquidated in 1943, the daycare received funds from state, local, and private sources. Throughout the 1940's and 1950's, the Nursery inhabited several locations. In 1953, the board proposed a new building for the daycare; the architectural drawings for the planned daycare have been preserved. Finally, the daycare moved to its present location of 410 Ridge Street in the late 1950's. The Barrett Daycare Center continues to operate in this location today.

Among these papers, there are a number of accounts that summarize the history of the daycare. One example is a hand written history from 1953.

Portrait of Janie Porter Barrett, courtesy of Library of Virginia

Biography of Janie Porter Barrett

Mrs. Janie Porter Barrett, for whom the Barrett Daycare Center was named, was a teacher whose life was dedicated to the education of African-American children in Virginia. Mrs. Barrett, whose maiden name was Janie Aurora Porter, was born in Athens, Georgia in 1865. She graduated from Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia in 1884. After she graduated, she took a teaching job in a small southwest Georgia town and later at Haines Institute in Augusta, Georgia. Mrs. Barrett eventually returned to Hampton, where she taught day and evening classes at the Butter Oak School. She also taught at Shellbanks, and during her Summer vacations she taught classes for Native American children, and later founded a home for homeless girls in Hampton. In the Fall of 1889, Miss Porter married another Hampton graduate, Mr. Harris Barrett. In 1914, Mrs. Barrett founded the Industrial School at Peake's Turnout, Virginia. She became its first Superintendent in 1915 and served in that capacity until she retired in June, 1940. It was at this time that the Industrial School changed its name to the Janie Porter Barrett School, to honor its founder. Mrs. Barrett died in August, 1948. At the celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the School on May 20, 1965, a plaque was unveiled in her honor. The inscription read:

"In Loving Memory of Janie Porter Barrett--Founder and First Superintendent 1916-1940"

Architectural drawing

During the 1940's and 1950's, the daycare inhabited several locations until it moved to its present location at 410 Ridge Street.

In the early 1950's the Barrett Daycare explored several options for permanent housing, including the possibility of constructing a new building to house the daycare.

This is one of several architectural drawings that was presented to the board of the daycare in July 1953.

Barrett Daycare Center. View from street

In 1958, the Barrett Daycare Center moved to its present location at 410 Ridge Street. The Daycare Center continues to operate in this location today.