02/26/2024
The photo of Dr. C.C. Barnett is from History of the American Negro: West Virginia Edition, Vol. VII, page27, 1923.
Dr. Barnett was the son of slaves, Rev. Nelson Barnett and Betty Woodson Barnett, who moved to Huntington WV from New Canton VA when he was two in the 1870s. He was the first cousin to Dr. Carter G Woodson, Father of African American History.
He went to school in Huntington and graduated from Ironton Ohio High School. He attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the School of Medicine at Howard University where he received a MD in 1899. In 1900, he moved back to Huntington and began his practice as a medical doctor and surgeon.
Dr. Barnett married Katherine “Kate” A. Whiting, a teacher from Gallipolis, Ohio, in 1902. In 1905, they purchased a house at 1201 7th Avenue in Huntington. Dr. Barnett was appointed Assistant City Physician. Dr. Barnett and his family were founders of the First Baptist Church in Huntington. Kate wrote articles for the local newspaper and helped found the WV “Colored” Orphans’ /Children’s Home. She died in 1909.
Dr. Barnett and others in his family bought and sold real estate in the “Washington Place” addition to Huntington between Hal Greer and 14th Streets and 10th and 8th Avenues, in the 1910s. He latter with Dr. W. R. Brown purchased the Love-Smith addition along 4th Pole Creek from 11th Street West to 16th Street West and renamed it Ripple Villa and sold lots to African Americans starting in August 16, 1919. In March 1920, he and Henry Brown formed a real estate firm to serve African Americans.
Dr. Barnett married his second wife, Clara Matthews Barnett, October 9, 1912. Clara B Matthews Barnett was from Farmville, VA and was a registered nurse. Clara received her nurses training at Lincoln Hospital’s school of nursing becoming a R.N. in 1897.
Dr. Barnett added to his home and founded his “Black Hospital,” Barnett Hospital. When the Barnett Hospital was founded, 63 black hospitals existed in the US and by 1919, 118. The hospital originally had 30 beds. The Hospital was the official hospital for the C&O Railroad, WV Coal miners, and Veterans Administration’s African American veterans. It also served as a State Hospital since other State Hospitals at the time did not adequately serve the African American population.
Dr. Woodson explains why his cousin, Dr. Barnett, started his hospital. The Huntington area had no hospital for African Americans. Dr. Barnett became aware of an incident where an employee of the railroad was seriously injured, turned away from more than one Huntington Hospital, and died.
The Barnett Hospital met the need of a place for African American doctors to intern. African Americans who interned at Barnett later practiced in Boston and Tuskegee. In 1913, R.W. Taylor, an organizer for the National League, described the hospital as: “…very up-to-date hospital … which has perhaps twenty-five beds, a thoroughly modern operating room, and other modern hospital appliances….”. (Booker T Washington Papers, University of Illinois Press, Vol. 12: 1912-14)
Dr. Barnett’s home increased in size to accommodate first the hospital and then a nursing school as well as provided him and Clara with a small apartment on the 3rd floor. Final alterations to the hospital building were completed in 1924. Dr. Barnett borrowed heavily to make these alterations and used his stock and other property for collateral.
Without Clara Barnett, Dr. Barnett would not have been able to establish a nursing school in the Hospital, ca. 1918. Very few of the nursing schools in the US were accredited, however, Barnett Nursing School was. Clara Barnett was the nursing school superintendent a significant accomplishment for a woman of any race at that time.
According to historian, Dr. Ancella Bickley, the Barnett Nursing School was the first opportunity for higher education available to African Americans in the tri-state area. In 1925, the accomplishments of the Barnett Hospital are touted in the Journal of the National Medical Association (JNMA). The Journal reported, “In this achievement, Clara Matthews Barnett, R.N., shares a large measure of pride and commendation.” (Oct-Dec. 1925; vol. 17 (4)).
Dr. Woodson says of his cousin’s wife, “It was fortunate that he married a second time when he entered upon the establishment of this hospital, … Miss Clara B. Matthews,.., a teacher and social welfare worker, who later took up nursing …She … {was} an efficient co-worker in everything which Dr. Barnett has undertaken in the interest of this hospital and the advancement of public health.” (Conyers, James L. Editor. Carter G. Woodson: A Historical Reader. New York. Garland Pub., 2000. p. 131)
An article in the Herald Dispatch reported, “the hospital has 63 beds.” “The new hospital is a handsome three-story rug brick building… It combines the latest devices for hospital equipment with an unusual compactness and convenience. Among the innovations are individual verandas for private rooms and a roof garden which will be opened in the spring for the benefit of convalescent patients. All private rooms have hot and cold water, and some have private baths. All the baths and operating rooms are white tile and Keene cement. … The two operating rooms, the sterilization room, the x-ray department and the laboratory are arranged ensuite on the first floor.” “The main operating room is equipped with the very latest shadowless chandelier which makes it possible to operate at midnight as readily as at noon. “Dr. Barnett is in active charge of the hospital and his wife is superintendent for the nursing staff.” “Every consideration has been shown in providing quarters and accommodations for the nursing staff.” (“New Barnett Hospital Is Finest Negro Institution in America” Herald Dispatch November 23, 1924.)
In 1930, the JNMA states, “During the past few years a number of surgeons who have had training in some of the great hospitals of this country and Europe, have started excellent private hospitals, where they not only have an opportunity to gain experience from the wealth of clinical materials, but it gives the colored people a chance to get expert treatment from surgeons and clinicians of their own race. Some brilliant examples of this are: …. Dr. C. C. Barnett, Huntington…” (only six hospitals listed). (Journal of the National Medical Association, Apr. – Jun. vol. 22 (2), p. 87) Dr. Barnett as renowned for his surgical skills; thus, African Americans came from all over for him to do their surgeries, even as far away as Florida.
Barnett Hospital not only provided excellent health care opportunities, but it also provided the amenities that African Americans were denied in white hospitals: Private rooms with hot and cold water; individual verandas; and some private baths. When it closed as a Black Hospital 1930 and became a City Hospital, African Americans were again denied such amenities.
Governor Howard M Gore of West Virginia asked Dr. Barnett to help garter support for an independent State Hospital, later named, Lakin Hospital, and located in Mason County. Dr. Barnett went before the State Legislator promoting the need for an African American State Hospital. In 1919, the State Legislature passed a bill to establish the hospital, but work did not begin until 1923 and work on the first building was not completed until 1926. Dr. Barnett was the first African American appointed Superintendent of a hospital by a state government. Dr. Barnett was only the second African American superintendent of a government hospital. The other was the Superintendent of the Tuskegee Institute hospital.
Dr. Woodson says of his cousin, “Dr. Barnett had no thought of becoming the head of this institution… (he) had no intention of leaving his work in Huntington. … the Governor of West Virginia visited him in person to urge him to accept, Dr. Barnett finally decided to take up this work…;” (Conyers, James L. Editor. Carter G. Woodson: A Historical Reader. New York. Garland Pub., 2000. p. 131) Picture is of Lakin Hospital staff, Black State Hospital once located in Mason County, with Dr. Barnett and his wife Clara Matthews Barnett in the front row. The Source is from Tenth Biennial Report of the State Board of Control, 1930, page 220.
The JNMA praised West Virginia for appointing Dr. Barnett superintendent of Lakin Hospital. On the front page of volume 18 (3) the Editorial is “Opening of State Hospital for Colored Insane in West Virginia”. “This event is of special interest due to the fact that the state has not only made this provision for the insane of the colored race but at the same time has recognized ability in the colored medical profession to manage this enterprise. … As far as we know there is only one other such institution headed by men of the race, that is the U.S. Veterans Hospital, No. 91, at Tuskegee.”. (Journal of the National Medical Association, vol. 18 (3), p. 136)
The Herald-Dispatch, August 13, 1925, published, “Dr. C. C. Barnett to Head Hospital for Negro Insane.” This article reports that “In tendering the superintendency {sic} of the Huntington physician, Governor Gore spoke of the fact that Dr. Barnett was not an applicant but had been selected because of his merits. … . The Barnett Hospital “… was enlarged and improved on an extensive scale last year. It is one of the largest and best-known all-Negro hospitals in the country...”
Dr. Barnett continued his residence on the 3rd floor of the Barnett Hospital building until 1929 even though he had a second home at Lakin. In 1930, he leased the hospital to the City of Huntington for a “City Hospital”. He lost the hospital to the mortgage company after the 1929 crash in 1930. He returned to Huntington, 1933, before he died, Dec. 30, 1935. According to his obituary, December 30, 1935, he lived with his sister, Mrs. J B Winston, a teacher at Barnett School and resided at 1407 9th Ave. His funeral took place in the First Baptist Church. His viewing was in the City of Huntington’s City Hall Auditorium his body laid in state there from noon to 2:30 PM, time of funeral; he was 66 years old.
The building was vacant for a number of years until 1947 when Local 543, Labor and Construction Union purchased it. Several other locals and labor councils over the years had offices in the building. Many politicians visited the locals requesting support. In 2008, my husband, Johnny Nance, and I formed the Historic Barnett Apartments, LP and purchased the building. The Historic Barnett Hospital and Nursing School was placed on the National Register, Dec. 2009. We are still seeking funding to preserve the building.
In conclusion, in the early 1900s, African Americans were split on how to address the government’s lack of support for their needs. Some African American leaders wanted to force equality in services, and others believed they could not wait. So, they addressed the needs themselves. Dr. Barnett was part of this movement and established a hospital on his own. The founding of the WV “Colored” Children’s Home was also part of this movement. West Virginia African Americans purchased the land, built the buildings, and administered the Children’s Home. Furthermore, Dr. Barnett helped bring about change in the medical field at a time African Americans faced insurmountable obstacles. Dr. Barnett, as well as his hospital and nursing school, made a significant positive impact on the medical education of African Americans in West Virginia and beyond. Hospitals were the only places where new technology and modern practices could be found. Without interning in a hospital, African American doctors were placed at a great disadvantage. Barnett Hospital’s intern program closed this gap between white and black doctors' opportunity to practice modern medicine. He personally founded, owned, and administered his hospital unlike most black hospitals of the day that were government or charity sponsored facilities that did not hire African American staff. Due to Dr. Barnett’s work, greater numbers of African American doctors and nurses were able to meet an increasing need in the African American community. Furthermore, he was, at the time, one of only two African Americans appointed superintendent of a medical facility in the United States by a government body. He was recognized by his peers, white and black, as well as local, state, and national leaders.
In the early 1900s, African Americans were split on how to address the government’s lack of support for their needs. Some African American leaders wanted to force equality in services, and others believed they could not wait. So, they addressed the needs themselves. Dr. Barnett was part of this movement and established a hospital on his own. The founding of the WV “Colored” Children’s Home was also part of this movement. West Virginia African Americans purchased the land, built the buildings, and administered the Children’s Home.
This article contains direct quotes from publications and contains the language of the time it was printed.
For permission to copy it or any part of it, please email me at [email protected]. Also, if you are interested in helping preserve the building, please email me, or telephone me at 304-412-1601.
