CliftonResident Wrote:
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> The original link to this story doesn't seem to be
> working but here is the cached version from
> Google. I think this is what you are referring
> to.
>
>
http://www.chroniclenewspapers.com/articles/2007/0
> 3/12/fairfax/news/news04.txt
>
>
>
> Growing Success at Ivakota Farm--Troubled Young
> Women get a Helping Hand to Gain a Leg Up
> By Sharon Cavileer
> Published: Monday, March 12, 2007 2:23 PM EDT
>
> The Ivakota story may have been lost to history
> had it not been for the efforts of Clifton
> resident, Lynne Garvey Wark shown here at the gate
> of the iron fence that surrounds the Ivakota
> cemetery.
> In the early 20th Century, Clifton's Ivakota Farm
> was noted for its progressive farming methods and
> successful dairy enterprise. More progressive was
> its mission. Ivakota Farm, which opened in the
> summer of l917, was established to transform the
> lives of young women in trouble.
>
> Located off Compton Road in what is now the
> stately Balmoral Forest neighborhood, Ivakota Farm
> was an idea brought to fruition by women for
> women. It is fitting that a historic marker will
> be placed on the site. One of the women who worked
> to have Ivakota Farm remembered, Lynne Garvey
> Wark, hopes to see the unveiling held on Mother's
> Day, 2007.
>
> The story began simply enough with a late-night
> knock on one door and a plea for help. Dr. Kate
> Waller Barrett, the wife of an Episcopal minister
> in Atlanta, was so moved by a late-night visit of
> an unwed mother that she dedicated her life to
> "wipe out some of the inequities that were meted
> out to my sisters who were so helpless to help
> themselves." Barrett enrolled in medical school
> and received both a medical degree and doctor of
> science. She then set to work to establish a home
> for unwed mothers. When her husband relocated to
> Alexandria, the seeds of Ivakota Farm had been
> planted. And Northern Virginia proved fertile
> ground.
>
> One of her earliest contacts was Charles
> Crittenton, a wealthy pharmacist and
> philanthropist. The death of his four-year-old
> daughter, Florence, nearly devastated the man.
> After great grief, Crittenton dedicated his
> energies to helping prostitutes and other wayward
> girls to a better life as a memorial to his
> daughter. When he received Dr. Barrett's letter,
> he agreed to fund her cause.
>
>
> At the same time, Clifton resident Ella Shaw, was
> reading articles in The Washington Times written
> by Dr. Barrett on the plight of prostitutes and
> unwed mothers. In a generous charitable gesture,
> Shaw deeded her 264-acre farm to the National
> Florence Crittenton Mission (NFCM) in 1915. The
> property, that Shaw had named Ivakota after her
> three states of residence-Iowa, North Dakota and
> Virginia-included a completely furnished home with
> a piano and 800 fruit jars. Later, she deeded
> another farm to the cause and Ivakota grew to a
> 400-acre sanctuary for women and children.
>
> Dr. Barrett assumed the directorship of the NFCM.
> In an ironic twist of fate, her husband died,
> leaving her a single mother with six children to
> rear alone. Undaunted, Dr. Kate Waller Barrett
> opened Ivakota Farm, giving troubled girls a
> "second chance." The courts sent criminals,
> prostitutes, girls with sexually transmitted
> diseases and young women who simply were "in
> trouble" to Ivakota. Other homeless girls and
> unwanted babies found their way to the secluded
> rural farm. One of the noted residents was Minnie
> Wilcox, a 19-year-old "bobbed-hair bandit" who had
> robbed a taxicab driver in DC.
>
> At Ivakota, all the girls learned domestic skills
> such as gardening and canning, received a formal
> education and enjoyed basketball, baseball, music
> and friendships. Local children attended classes
> at the farm and community interaction was
> encouraged.
>
> According to Katherine Aiken, author of the book
> Harnessing the Power of Motherhood, Dr. Kate
> Barrett's slogan was adopted by her girls. Barrett
> would tell her Ivakota residents: "I am an
> American girl and I am going to make the world
> know that I am worth something."
>
> In the 1920s Ivakota Farm was home to more than 60
> girls and 20 babies. With added construction, it
> expanded to care for as many as 150 girls. In 1926
> Ivakota graduated 15 women from its practical
> nursing school. Others left to lead successful and
> productive lives with 53 percent of its graduates
> marrying within six months of departure. Many of
> these young women had never had the opportunity to
> live in a safe environment. Ivakota became a place
> to learn, to heal and to grow.
>
> Ivakota Farm served "disadvantaged girls who were
> wards of the court" until 1957. All that remains
> of the farm are some stone foundations and a
> cemetery surrounded by an iron fence. It is the
> only sad legacy of Ivakota Farm. The cemetery
> holds the remains of many of the babies and girls
> who did not survive the experience.
>
> The story would have been lost to history had it
> not been for the efforts of another Clifton woman,
> Lynne Garvey Wark. Mrs. Wark is the past chair of
> the Fairfax County History Commission and the
> founding chairperson of the Clifton History
> Commission. "My first passion is history," said
> Wark. "And, although the story was widely known in
> the early part of the 20th Century, much of it has
> been forgotten. This was a wonderful era of
> progressive social reform and the women involved
> in the story are truly heroic. I really believe
> this is one of those institutions that really gave
> women a second chance. It's a story that must be
> told."
>
> After exhaustive research with Balmoral resident
> Andy Morse, Wark presented the Ivakota Farm story
> and request for a plaque to Fairfax County History
> Commission's Marker Committee, chaired by Jack
> Hiller. The request was approved and the plaque
> will be placed at the intersection of Balmoral
> Forest Drive and Compton Road near the cemetery.
> The marker will be paid for by the Balmoral
> Homeowners' Association and The Fairfax County
> History Commission.
>
> Lynne Garvey Wark has also authored a history of
> Ivakota Farm, titled A House of Another Chance,
> which was submitted to the Jamestown 2007 History
> Book Project. Active in community affairs, Lynne
> and her husband Bill maintain The Canary Cottage
> in Clifton, Fairfax County's only Bed and
> Breakfast Inn.
>
> "Ivakota Farm was a living success worthy of
> remembrance," said Wark. "For the thousands of
> women and children who were the characters in this
> story and who survived society's harshest
> treatments-abuse, sexual assault, venereal
> disease, abandonment by family, friend and
> church-Ivakota gave them back a life that would
> have otherwise been lost."
Thanks for this.