Janie Porter Barrett at Home with Her Family

Social and educational activist Janie Porter Bennett sits with her family in the parlor of her home on Locust Street in Hampton at the turn of the twentieth century. Bennett opened her home to help her Black neighbors, creating the Locust Street Social Settlement that eventually offered classes, a playground for children, and group activities for every age group. Her husband, Harris Bennett, worked as a cashier and bookkeeper at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute and became an influential local entrepreneur.