Born in 1891 in North Carolina, Barnett worked as a mineworker from the age of eight. After moving to Southwest Washington sometime after 1908, he joined the Industrial Workers of the World. On November 11, 1919, he witnessed the attack on the IWW union hall in Centralia, was arrested, tried, and imprisoned for eleven years. After his release to care for his ill wife, he worked as a miner and in various other occupations. He died in 1973.
From the guide to the Eugene Barnett oral history collection, 1940-1961, (University of Washington Libraries Special Collections)