Marguerite Ross Barnett was born in Charlottesville, Virginia on May 22, 1942, but grew up in Buffalo, New York. She graduated from Buffalo's Bennett High School in 1959, and later attended Antioch College graduating with an A.B. in Political Science in 1964. Following her undergraduate studies, Barnett continued her study of political science at the University of Chicago where she received her M.A. and Ph.D. in 1966 and 1972 respectively.
Barnett held several teaching positions during her career, beginning as a lecturer at the University of Chicago in 1969. She also taught at Princeton, Howard, and Columbia. As an administrator, she held positions at the City University of New York and the University of Missouri-Saint Louis before coming to the University of Houston in the fall of 1990.
When Dr. Barnett assumed the role of President at the University of Houston, she became the first woman, as well as the first African-American to hold the office. Among her many accomplishments at UH, Barnett succeeded in raising more than $150 million for the institution, establishing the Texas Center for Environmental Studies, and instituting the nationally recognized Bridge Program. The Bridge Program aided motivated, disadvantaged students make a successful transition from high school to college.
In early 1992, the University of Houston's Board of Regents granted Dr. Barnett a six month leave of absence for treatment of a neuro-endorcrinological condition. She succumbed to complications from the disease on February 26, 1992.
The papers of Dr. Marguerite Ross Barnett contain speeches, correspondence, and other information relating to her appointment and tenure as President of the University of Houston. Dr. Barnett's papers are arranged in five series, and chronologically within each series. The majority of the collection consists of speeches. The collection contains material dating from September 1990 to March 1992.
Donation, 1998
Tyler Selle, October 1998
Dr. Marguerite Ross Barnett Papers, Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries.
Open for research.
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Terms are either Library of Congress Subject Headings or taken from local sources.
This series is the largest in the collection with twenty-four folders. The material consists of speeches and drafts of speeches given by Dr. Barnett to various groups associated with the University of Houston from September 1990 through October 1991. The series is arranged chronologically and the speeches retain the titles used by Dr. Barnett.
There are two folders in this series. Each folder constitutes a sub-series; one containing correspondence received and the other correspondence sent. The material dates from April 1990 to April 1992.
This one folder series contains several non-dated press releases largely concerning the University of Houston.
There are two folders in this series with material dating from September 1990 to March 1992, with some non-dated items. Sub-series consist of Newspaper Clippings and Miscellaneous Publications. The majority of the newspaper articles deal with Dr. Barnett's appointment to the office of President of UH, her influence in the educational community, and her sickness and death.
The five folders in this series contain items dating from October to December 1991, with some undated materials.