Ferdinand Lee Barnett (Chicago)

Ferdinand Lee Barnett
Photo of Barnett from 1900
Born	1859 Nashville, Tennessee
Died	March 11, 1936(1936-03-11) (aged 76–77) Chicago, Illinois
Alma mater	Union College of Law
Occupation	Journalist, lawyer
Political party	Republican, later Democratic
Spouse(s)	Ida B. Wells

Ferdinand Lee Barnett (1859 – March 11, 1936) was an American journalist, lawyer, and civil rights activist in Chicago, Illinois. In 1895 he married anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells. He was a founding editor of the Chicago Conservator in 1878. He was a successful lawyer and was the third black person to be admitted to the Illinois bar. In 1896 he became Illinois' first black assistant state's attorney. He was active in anti-lynching and civil rights and was called "one of the foremost citizens Chicago has ever had" by the Chicago Defender.

Ferdinand Lee Barnett was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1859. His mother was freewoman Martha Brooks and was born about 1825. His father, also named Ferdinand Lee Barnett, was born in Nashville in about 1810 and worked as a blacksmith. He purchased his family's freedom the year Ferdinand was born. They lived in Nashville until about 1859 when they moved to Windsor, Ontario. Ferdinand's mother died November 11, 1908 and his father died in early February 1898.

The Barnett family moved to Chicago in 1869 and Ferdinand was educated in Chicago schools, first attending the old Jones school at Clark and Harrison. He then entered Central High School, graduating in 1874. After high school he taught in the southern United States for two years before returning to Chicago to attend Union College of Law, later a part of Northwestern Law School. Barnett graduated from law school and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1878. He was the third black person to pass the Illinois bar, following Lloyd G. Wheeler and Richard A. Dawson.

Barnett was a cousin to another Ferdinand L. Barnett and his brother Alfred S. Barnett who were also journalists and lived in Omaha and Des Moines.

In December 1877, Barnett along with co-editors Abram T. Hall, Jr. and James E. Henderson organized the semi-monthly newspaper, the Conservator, the first edition appearing on January 1, 1878. Also among the editors and stakeholders was Iowan, Alexander Clark. The Conservator was a radical journal which focused on justice and equal rights, and Barnett was soon recognized as a local black leader. Barnett was a delegate to the May 1879 National Conference of Colored Men in Nashville and gave a noted speech calling for unity and education. He was a delegate to the 1884 Inter-State Conference of Colored Men in Pittsburgh, and the national convention of the Timothy Thomas Fortune led Afro-American League in Chicago in 1890 where he was named secretary.