Kathleen L. Barber
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Kathleen L. Barber (1924–2014) was an American political scientist and environmental activist. She was a professor at John Carroll University near Cleveland, Ohio, and the author of two books on voting systems.
Barber was originally from Canton, Ohio,[1] born in 1924.[2] She was an undergraduate at Wellesley College, where she graduated in 1944.[1][3] She became a housewife, and raised four children, returning to graduate study only after the youngest reached school age.[3] She earned a master's degree and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University,[1] despite opposition from a faculty member who predicted that "Shaker Heights housewives always drop out".[3]
She became a professor of political science at John Carroll University, starting there in 1968, and chaired the department from 1977 until 1985. She retired in 1989,[3] and died on June 25, 2014.[1]
Environmental activism
In the 1960s, as a graduate student, Barber became active in the movement to save the Shaker Lakes from highway development.[3] These are two reservoirs in Shaker Heights, Ohio, formed in the 19th century by damming a local stream. In the 1960s, an extension of the Interstate Highway System named the Clark Highway (to be numbered as I-290) was planned to pass through this area.[4] Barber helped lead the successful campaign to prevent this construction, and became a founder of the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes.[3][5] She continued to remain active in local politics into the 1990s.[3]
