Edna Mae Barnes was born into a southern migrant, poor, working–class family.
They worked hard and enjoyed their life as middle class African Americans in their Martindale neighborhood community.
As time went on, Barnes was inspired by worsening conditions in her Martindale neighborhood to help the community’s children.
Barnes’s independence had alienated many leaders in local African–American churches, and so when a few local white Baptist churches offered assistance, Barnes joined with them and formed the East Side Christian Center (ESCC).
Barnes had neither the time nor, more importantly, the inclination to march for civil rights.
