Huntington, WV Black History

Callie Barnett

Community Activist

Callie Barnett is the mother of two famous Huntingtonians, Nelson Barnett and Carl E. Barnett.  She grew up in North Carolina and Ohio.  She moved to Huntington when her husband, Carter Barnett, was hired as the second principal of Douglass High School.  Even though he built a house for his family, Callie sent her children back to Granville, Ohio, to live with her mother and attend school there.  Callie has given many interviews during her lifetime and most of them include her recollections of Huntington, 1st Baptist church, Douglass/Barnett schools and the early Huntington neighborhoods.  Like many women of her time, Callie was an expert seamstress and is known for the many quilts and handiworks she produced.  She was a faithful member of First Baptist Church. She was 109 years old when she died.

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