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St. John Barrett (May 21, 1923 - May 28, 2012) was a prominent trial attorney with the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice during much of the Civil Rights Movement, from 1955 to 1967. According to former U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, "St. John Barrett... served with distinction on the front lines of the struggle for Civil Rights".[1]
Barrett was a Washington-based federal prosecutor who participated in a number of well-known civil-rights initiatives undertaken by the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations; these include actions associated with the enrollment of the Little Rock Nine in 1957, the Ole Miss riot of 1962, and the assassination of civil-rights worker Viola Liuzzo by members of the Ku Klux Klan in 1965.[1][2]
Early Life[edit]
St. John Barrett was born in Santa Rosa, California in 1923, the son of a local attorney. His unusual first name was derived from his mother's maiden name but he was generally known as "Slim" from at an early age (he would eventually grow to be a lanky 6-foot-4).
In 1943, Barrett graduated from Pomona College in Claremont, California with a dual degree in government and mathematics. Earlier in life, he had contracted meningitis, which kept him out of the military during World War II; instead, he worked as a research analyst at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica. In 1948, he graduated from the UC Berkeley School of Law, then began work as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California.[2]
Civil Rights Era[edit]
In 1954, Mr. Barrett relocated to the Washington D.C. area, where he began work as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. [3]
Montgomery County and Winona City, Mississippi [4]
desegregation of Alabama schools: [5]
Transportation [6]
Later, Barrett served as a Deputy General Counsel at the former U.S. Department of Health, Education & Welfare through the Carter administration, when he left the federal government for private practice.
Personal[edit]
In 1960, Barrett married Elisabeth Fuchs of Ellicott City, Maryland. They had five children: Susan, David, James, Robert & Anna.
On May 28, 2012, "Slim" Barrett died from complications of pneumonia at Howard County General Hospital in Columbia, Maryland. He had just turned 89 years of age; besides his wife and children, he left a sister and 13 grandchildren.
In his 2009 memoir, Barrett wrote, in regard to his DoJ tenure, "It was the best job a lawyer could possibly have."[2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Barrett, St. John (2009). The Drive for Equality: A Personal History of Civil Rights Enforcement, 1954-1965. Baltimore: PublishAmerica. ISBN 1-60836-779-7.
- ^ a b c Schudel, Matt (2012-06-16). "A Local Life: St. John Barrett, lawyer who made the case for civil rights, dies at 89". Washington Post. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
- ^ Turner, James P.; Doar, John (2013). "Voices of the Civil Rights Division: Then and Now (Symposium of October 28, 2011)" (PDF). McGeorge Law Review. 44: 1–40. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ Lawson, William Harrel; Smith, Scott Alan (2016). "Defeat in Decision, Victory in Action: A Critical Legal Rhetoric Reading of U.S. v. Patridge et al. (1963)". Communication Law Review. 12 (1): 1–52. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ Landsberg, Brian K. (2016). "Lee v. Macon County Board of Education: The Possibilities of Federal Enforcement of Equal Educational Opportunity". Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy. 12 (1): 11–28. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ Barrett, St. John. "Transportation Cases and Matters" (19 March 1964) [Memorandum]. Burke Marshall Personal Papers, ID: BMPP-034-012-p0002. Boston: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
Category:Movements for civil rights Category:1923 births Category:2012 deaths