Copyright protected. Use of this item beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission of Delta State University is required to publish or reproduce. Contact University Archives, Delta State University, (662) 846-4780. Interviewee: Barber, Frank Interviewer: Mohammed, Liz Date: October 20, 1983 LM: This is an interview with Frank Barber. Okay, please give us a brief biographical sketch to include your date of birth, place of birth, and schools attended. FB: Well, I was born April 2, 1929, in Hot Springs, Garland Co., Arkansas. My mother was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1902 and we happened to be in Hot Springs because my mother had moved there five years before my birth for her health. My father had to sell his business and relocate in Hot Springs. But apparently, my mother recovered sufficiently to have me in 1929. I only lived in Hot Springs about three years and I grew up in Hattiesburg, Forrest Co. Mississippi. And, received my elementary education there, and was graduated from High School there, in Hattiesburg, in 1947. I attended the University of Mississippi, I went to the U.S. Army, I was graduated with a BA Degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, then Mississippi Southern College, Hattiesburg. I attended the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss School of Law one year, and was graduated after two years at the George Washington University School of Law in Washington D.C. I'm a lawyer, I am_____to the D.C. or District of Columbia Bar in '57, the Mississippi Bar in '58, I was in the private practice of law from '58 to '64. I received most of my legal education in Washington because in 1955 I went to work for Senator Eastland as a member of the staff of his Judiciary Committee. After returning to Mississippi, I served one year as Special Council to the General Legislative Investigating Committee. In 1959 I was elected to the Mississippi State Senate, I served one term, I did not offer for re-election. I served as chairman of the Corporation's Committee, chairman of the Constitution Committee, my second two years, the secretary of the General Legislative Investigating Committee, as a member of the Judiciary Finance Committee. Following my service in the Senate I participated in the campaign of, the successful campaign of Governor Paul Johnson, and served as one of his three executive assistants. Following that service I was going to turn in, Industrial Representative for the Mississippi Agricultural Industrial Board. Where I was exposed to some of the problems of economic development in the state, including bond issues, industrial and general revenue bond issues. It was a very interesting experience during the Governor John Bell Williams administration. In 1972, I went back to Washington and served seven years as a legislative assistant to United States Senator James O. Eastland who was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and President Pro-Tempore of the United States Senate. I'm married I have five, I have a total of six children and I am very proud of my service in the U.S. Army. On two occasions, the latter part of the, the latter service being overseas service during the Korean War in Europe. I am a member of a number of organizations including: the American Legion, the Veteran for Foreign Wars, Mississippi State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Mississippi Mississippi Digital Library Identification: mcd.oh.barber_347 Page 1 of 16 Copyright protected. Use of this item beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission of Delta State University is required to publish or reproduce. Contact University Archives, Delta State University, (662) 846-4780. Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association of Trial Lawyers, the Alumni Associations of Ole Miss and the University of Southern Mississippi, I'm a Master Mason member of the York-Right and the Scottish-Right bodies. LM: Okay, how, when, and why did you get involved in Mississippi politics? FB: Well that's not an easy question and unfortunately for you Liz, it won't be a brief answer. But, my first recollection of exposure to politics was probably before I was ten years old. My father had come to Mississippi from the north, my father had come from, first Pennsylvania then he came to Mississippi to Camp Shelby with the Indiana National Guard, 38th Infantry Division. His political orientation, then and most of the time until his death was Republican, I sometimes say I took my mothers politics and my fathers religion. But, nevertheless I can, I can vaguely recall the 1936 election for President, Franklin Roosevelt and Alf Landen, and my father was one of the few people in Hattiesburg, MS who favored Landen. Everybody else favored Roosevelt that I knew of... and of course over the tremendous landslide for Franklin Roosevelt that year. I had no sentimental attachment at age 7 to either candidate. The next thing I recall, I do recall this, between '36 and'39 that I began to go to the Hattiesburg Public Library very assiduously, very faithfully and I began to read books and I graduated from Dick and Jane, or the very elementary, elementary school books, to simple biographies, and I remember reading the biography of Washington, and Lincoln, Lincoln particularly impressed me and somewhere along the line I determined that I would like a career in either law or politics or both. The more biographies I read the more, at that time, the more politicians I learned about, they were both lawyers and public officials, or lawyers and government officials. Jefferson was a lawyer, and so on through history, Theodore Roosevelt was a lawyer, Franklin Roosevelt was a lawyer, now lawyers aren't so much involved in politics now. I might point out that when I was a member of the Legislature almost half of the membership were lawyers, that's not true anymore. Less than a third are members are members of legal profession now. But anyhow it set in my mind that to be a successful politician, and I've never backed up from the use of that word, I think that, I think politics is a noble profession, that the best preparation was probably a career or a degree in law. Now, a funny thing happened around 1938, '37 or '38, '38, my parents were divorced, and in the course of the divorce I met the attorney for my mother and the attorney was Paul B. Johnson Sr., who had been a Judge, a Circuit Judge, and a Congressman from our district, and had run for Governor twice before nineteen thirty, before his third and successful race in 1939. And I remember being in the court room and seeing that tall and handsome and very distinguished future Governor, Paul B. Johnson, and I said I want to be like him. And in '39 I had a chance to help him, I was ten years old and his law office was in Hattiesburg, and on my way from the library one day I went by Governor John..., Judge Johnson's office. And I asked, he wasn't there, he was out campaigning, but I asked if there was anything I can do and this lady, I will never for get her name, her name was Miss Mead, gave me a bunch of circulars. So the first, no compensation, but a bunch of circulars, and let me Mississippi Digital Library Identification: mcd.oh.barber_347 Page 2 of 16 Copyright protected. Use of this item beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission of Delta State University is required to publish or reproduce. Contact University Archives, Delta State University, (662) 846-4780. give them out, put them on cars, in the downtown Hattiesburg area. And that's the first, my first exposure to political work. And then I went to, then he was elected and I was, I was there the next day in his office when he was elected and I will never forget the Governor took me in his chair and put me on his lap and thanked me for what I had done. And when he was Governor I used to, I couldn't go to the Inaugural or anything I was just ten, but I kept up with him through the newspapers and I would write him a letter every once in a while and, or a post card, and he would write me a letter. And this connection with the Johnson family probably explains my entire involvement in Mississippi politics. It was Governor Johnson who appointed James O. Eastland to the United States Senate in 1942 on the death of Senator Harrison, Senator Pan Harrison. A year later, he did not run in the special election, but in a year later Senator Eastland ran against Senator Ball Doxie, and had only served a year, and defeated him. And I recall having written, I have the letter, which incidentally is in the Archives of the University of Southern Mississippi Library, where I expressed to Governor Johnson my support and interest in Senator Eastland, although I had never seen the man. And although I was something like thirteen years old, but these things all came to merge later in my, my career. Cut it (tape off). Part of that question why was I involved, well when you are very young and you are very idealistic and you don't know exactly the why's and wherefore's of what you do, but having read all these biographies, having seen these people at a distance and wanting to immolate them, essentially you feel that you want to do something for the people.