Oral history with the Honorable Ross Robert Barnett, former governor of the State of Mississippi.

              Oral history with the Honorable Ross Robert Barnett, former governor of the State of Mississippi.
This oral history is provided through a cooperative project of University of Southern Mississippi Libraries and USM's Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage.
Funding provided by a National Leadership Grant for Libraries from the Institute for Museum and Library Services
The transcript is presented here for reference purposes only. Interviews in this collection are protected by copyright. PERMISSION TO PUBLISH MUST BE REQUESTED from the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. Please call ( 601) 266- 4574 for more information.
Biography
Ross Robert Barnett was the youngest of ten children born to John William Barnett and Virginia Ann Chadwick Barnett. He was born in the Standing Pine Community, Leake County, Mississippi on January 22, 1898.
Mr. Barnett's early education was acquired in the public schools of Leake County. He attended, but did not graduate from, the agricultural high school in Lena, Mississippi. However, he accumulated enough credits to be accepted at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi from which he graduated with a B. A. degree in 1924.
Upon completion of his course work at Mississippi College, Mr. Barnett taught school for two years at Pontotoc, Mississippi. He then attended Vanderbilt University Law School. From there he transferred to the University of Mississippi Law School at Oxford, Mississippi. He began his law practice in the city of Jackson, Mississippi upon graduation from the University of Mississippi in 1926.
After two previously unsuccessful campaigns Ross Barnett won the nomination for governor on the Democratic Party ticket in 1959. He was elected governor in the November elections and was inaugurated January 19, 1960. At the end of his term in 1964 the ex- governor returned to private life and the practice of law in Jackson.
Mr. Barnett served as president of the Mississippi State Bar from 1943 until 1944. He is a World War I veteran and belongs to numerous civic, commercial and fraternal organizations. Mr. Barnett presently resides in Jackson with his wife the former Mary Pearl Crawford of Panola County.
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