Alfred S. Barnett

Alfred S. Barnett
Phototype from the Progress, June 21, 1890
Born	(1858-12-27)December 27, 1858 Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Occupation	Journalist
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Bessie Burfitt

Alfred S. Barnett (December 27, 1858 – aft. 1905) was a journalist and civil rights activist in Omaha, Nebraska, Des Moines, Iowa, and Chicago, Illinois. In Des Moines, Barnett created and ran the newspaper, The Weekly Avalanche from 1891 to 1894. Before moving to Des Moines, he contributed to his brother, Ferdinand L. Barnett's Omaha paper, The Progress. He worked for civil rights also a member and an officer of numerous civil rights organizations, including the Nebraska branch of the National Afro-American League and the Afro-American Protective Association of Iowa. Barnett was described as a "pleasing speaker".

Barnett was born December 27, 1858 in Huntsville, Alabama to F. L. Barnett and Sarah Erskine. His brother, Ferdinand L. Barnett, was also a civil rights activist and journalist. Ferdinand was editor of The Progress an Omaha newspaper, and was elected to the Nebraska State House of Representatives in 1826.

At the age of ten, Alfred became responsible for himself. August 31, 1882 he was married in Chicago to Bessie Burfitt and moved to Omaha. The couple had at least two children. In the late 1880s he worked in mortgage and loans, and was a census enumerator in the 1890 US Census.

Barnett was a cousin to Ferdinand Lee Barnett, husband of Ida B. Wells-Barnett.

In late 1889 and early 1890, Chicago's T. Thomas Fortune called for the organization of local leagues for the purpose of the advancement of blacks which would meet in January 1890 to form the National Afro-American League. On January 9, 1890, a meeting was held in Omaha to this effect. Edwin R. Overall was elected chairman of the meeting, and Barnett played a prominent role. Matthew Ricketts, Barnett, and Fred Thomas were selected to be the local league's delegates to the national convention of the league and Silas Robbins would attend the national convention as a delegate from the Republican Colored Club. The selection was disputed and eventually, Ricketts, A. L. Bennet, S. G. Thomas, Silas Robbins, and Overall attended. Later, in Mary of 1890, Barnett took part in a statewide meeting of black Nebraskans to discuss issues relating to equal rights, to form a permanent state league, and to support black people seeking to move to Nebraska to purchase homes and farms.