Nathaniel Barrett

Nathaniel A. Barrett (born c. 1870) was the Mayor of East Lake before its annexation into Birmingham in 1910. He was later elected to a four year term as President of the Birmingham City Commission from 1917 to 1921.

Barrett worked as a physician in East Lake before entering politics. He had a large home on the 7900 block of Underwood Avenue. He married the former Annie Pearl Troup on May 5, 1891.

The former East Lake School was named for him in 1909.

Barrett was publicly endorsed in the 1917 Birmingham City Commission election by the True Americans, an anti-catholic secret society which took issue with incumbent George Ward's stance on honoring the Lord's Day. Barrett, a Baptist, had been a leader in the campaign to prohibit the showing of movies on Sundays, which Ward had voted to uphold. During the campaign Barrett labelled Ward, an Episcopalian, as a "tool of the Catholics".

Barrett, for his part, was called a "narrow, bigoted, intolerant type, thoroughly incapacitated for the big task he seeks," by the Birmingham News, which had led efforts to put experienced business leaders into office.

Barrett won the election with strong support from the recently annexed suburban communities outside the business district. He famously switched from chewing tobacco to chewing gum as he convened his first meeting of the Board of Commissioners. His first act as Mayor was to fire police chief Martin Eagan, a Catholic, and install Ku Klux Klan official Thomas Shirley in his place.

In 1920 Barrett supported a move to increase property taxes and reduce merchant's license fees by 20 percent.

During his last year in office, Barrett celebrated the Semicentennial of Birmingham. The week-long event was crowned by his welcoming President Warren G. Harding for an eventful day in Birmingham.

Despite his interest in reforming the Birmingham Police Department, Barrett's administration was accused of being soft on vice as prostitution and gambling flourished, especially during World War I. His entire administration was replaced in the 1921 Birmingham City Commission election by a new slate of reformers headed by D. E. McLendon.

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Preceded by: George Ward

President of Birmingham City Commission 1917–1921

Succeeded by: David McLendon

References

• Vick, Mary-Helen (1965) A Survey of the Governing Body of Birmingham, Alabama, 1910-1964. Master's thesis. Alabama College.
• Harris, Carl V. (1977) Political Power in Birmingham, 1871-1921. Twentieth-Century America Series. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 087049211X