William Warren Barbour
Encyclopedia
William Warren Barbour (July 31, 1888 November 22, 1943) was an American
Republican Party
politician who represented New Jersey
in the United States Senate
from 1931 to 1937 and again from 1938 until his death in office in 1943. He was also a business leader and amateur heavyweight boxing champion in both the United States (1910) and Canada (1911).
, Monmouth County, New Jersey
. His eldest brother, Thomas Barbour
, a general naturalist
and herpetologist, served as director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
at Harvard. His father, Colonel William Barbour, was founder and president of the Linen Thread Company, Inc., a thread manufacturing enterprise having much business on both sides of the Atlantic.
William Warren Barbour attended the public schools, but ultimately graduated from the Browning School
, New York City
in 1906. He also entered Princeton University
but left after one semester to join The Linen Thread Company, of which his father was president. William Warren Barbour became president of the company in 1917 when his father, "The Colonel", died.
As a teenager, Barbour suffered from tuberculosis
, which he overcame by intensive exercise and participation in sports. These athletic pursuits included boxing, which eventually led to his becoming amateur heavyweight
boxing
champion of the United States
in 1910, when he defeated Joseph Burke, and Canada
in 1911.
Around this time, both Theodore Roosevelt
and "Gentleman Jim" Corbett
wanted him to take up the mantle of "the great white hope
" and fight Jack Johnson
, the reigning professional heavyweight champion. While the idea apparently appealed to Barbour and his father, his mother was adamantly opposed and firmly quashed the plan. While Barbour never continued with a professional boxing career, he did serve as timekeeper for the Jack Dempsey
-Jess Willard
fight in 1919.
Militarily, he served as a member of the New York National Guard for ten years, being stationed on the Mexican
border in 1916, and attaining the rank of captain. In 1921, he married Elysabeth Cochran Carrere, a union which gave rise to three children and ten grandchildren. Soon after his marriage, Barbour entered the political arena, serving as a member of the Rumson
Borough Council in 1922 and as mayor of Rumson from 1923-1928.
, Monmouth County, N.J., as their official residence, while also maintaining a home in New York City
. Barbour continued his work in various industrial enterprises, primarily including the family thread manufacturing business, of which he was president. On December 1, 1931, New Jersey Governor Morgan F. Larson appointed Barbour, a Republican, to the United States Senate
to fill the vacancy created by the death of Dwight W. Morrow.
The appointment was confirmed the following year, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 8, 1932, with 49% of the vote, in a year when more than half of the Republican incumbents running for the Senate were defeated. He served in the Senate until January 3, 1937. After completing Morrow's unfinished term, Barbour was unsuccessful in his 1936 reelection bid. For the next two years, he resumed his former pursuits, including service as a member of the New Jersey unemployment compensation commission in 1937. Barbour regained his Senate seat on November 8, 1938, when he was again appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of A. Harry Moore
. Popularly elected to the office in 1940 after completing Moore's term, he served as U.S. Senator from New Jersey until his death in 1943.
While Barbour evidenced no personal history of an interest in Jewish affairs prior to rejoining the Senate in 1940, the plight of victims of Nazi genocide
stirred him deeply. In April 1943, along with many other Congressmen and Senators, Barbour may have attended a performance of We Will Never Die, a pageant
written by Ben Hecht
and produced by the Bergson Group to commemorate two million European Jews who had already been murdered. In the fall of 1943, he was one of a small group of senators and congressmen who, together with the vice president, met with 400 rabbi
s who marched with the Bergson Group in Washington in 1943, shortly before Yom Kippur
, the Jewish Day of Atonement. It was hoped their march would encourage the United States government to take a formal stand against the Holocaust. While President Franklin D. Roosevelt
did not meet with the rabbis, Senator Barbour, along with a handful of Congressional colleagues, met them on the steps of the United States Capitol
and expressed his commitment to their cause.
On October 14, 1943, barely a week after meeting with the rabbis, and despite strong public and political opinion against allowing further immigration
to the United States, Barbour introduced a bill that would have permitted as many as 100,000 victims of the Holocaust "who are now being persecuted either because of racial or religious belief" to come to America and to remain in the United States as visitors for the duration of the war. This would have been a significant change from the existing policy limiting immigration to only 2% of the number of their countrymen who had been in the United States as of the 1890 Census
.
Barbour's death just a few weeks later in November, 1943, prevented him from working toward passage of the bill. His support of the rabbis, however, and his subsequent actions in the Senate did much to increase political and public awareness of and compassion for the victims of Nazi genocide.
He is buried with his parents and a brother, Robert Barbour, at Cedar Lawn Cemetery
in Paterson, New Jersey
. Divorced at the time of his death, he was survived by three children and, subsequently, ten grandchildren.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politician who represented New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from 1931 to 1937 and again from 1938 until his death in office in 1943. He was also a business leader and amateur heavyweight boxing champion in both the United States (1910) and Canada (1911).
Family background and early life
William Warren Barbour, the third of four brothers, was born in 1888 to Colonel William Barbour and his wife, Julia Adelaide Sprague, in Monmouth BeachMonmouth Beach, New Jersey
Monmouth Beach is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 3,279....
, Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 630,380, up from 615,301 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Freehold Borough. The most populous municipality is Middletown Township with...
. His eldest brother, Thomas Barbour
Thomas Barbour
Thomas Barbour was an American herpetologist. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
, a general naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
and herpetologist, served as director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
Museum of Comparative Zoology
The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...
at Harvard. His father, Colonel William Barbour, was founder and president of the Linen Thread Company, Inc., a thread manufacturing enterprise having much business on both sides of the Atlantic.
William Warren Barbour attended the public schools, but ultimately graduated from the Browning School
Browning School
The Browning School is a United States college preparatory school for boys founded in 1888 by John A. Browning. It offers study from Pre-Primary level through Form VI and is ranked as one of the top private schools in New York City...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1906. He also entered Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
but left after one semester to join The Linen Thread Company, of which his father was president. William Warren Barbour became president of the company in 1917 when his father, "The Colonel", died.
As a teenager, Barbour suffered from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, which he overcame by intensive exercise and participation in sports. These athletic pursuits included boxing, which eventually led to his becoming amateur heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
champion of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1910, when he defeated Joseph Burke, and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1911.
Around this time, both Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
and "Gentleman Jim" Corbett
James J. Corbett
James John "Gentleman Jim" Corbett was an Irish-American heavyweight boxing champion, best known as the man who defeated the great John L. Sullivan. He also coached boxing at the Olympic Club in San Francisco...
wanted him to take up the mantle of "the great white hope
The Great White Hope
The Great White Hope is a 1967 play written by Howard Sackler, later adapted in 1970 for a film of the same name. The play was first produced by Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. and debuted on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on October 3, 1968 for a run of 546 performances, directed by Edwin Sherin...
" and fight Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson (boxer)
John Arthur Johnson , nicknamed the “Galveston Giant,” was an American boxer. At the height of the Jim Crow era, Johnson became the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion...
, the reigning professional heavyweight champion. While the idea apparently appealed to Barbour and his father, his mother was adamantly opposed and firmly quashed the plan. While Barbour never continued with a professional boxing career, he did serve as timekeeper for the Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
-Jess Willard
Jess Willard
Jess Willard was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He won the heavyweight title from Jack Johnson in April 1915 and lost it to Jack Dempsey in July 1919....
fight in 1919.
Militarily, he served as a member of the New York National Guard for ten years, being stationed on the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
border in 1916, and attaining the rank of captain. In 1921, he married Elysabeth Cochran Carrere, a union which gave rise to three children and ten grandchildren. Soon after his marriage, Barbour entered the political arena, serving as a member of the Rumson
Rumson, New Jersey
Rumson is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,122.Rumson was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 15, 1907, from portions of Shrewsbury Township, based on the results of a...
Borough Council in 1922 and as mayor of Rumson from 1923-1928.
Political career and opposition to the Holocaust
By 1930, Barbour and his family took their house in Locust PointLocust Point, New Jersey
Locust, originally named Locust Point, is an unincorporated area and section of Middletown Township, located in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. It is situated along the Navesink River.- External links :*; accessed 1 August 2007....
, Monmouth County, N.J., as their official residence, while also maintaining a home in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Barbour continued his work in various industrial enterprises, primarily including the family thread manufacturing business, of which he was president. On December 1, 1931, New Jersey Governor Morgan F. Larson appointed Barbour, a Republican, to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
to fill the vacancy created by the death of Dwight W. Morrow.
The appointment was confirmed the following year, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 8, 1932, with 49% of the vote, in a year when more than half of the Republican incumbents running for the Senate were defeated. He served in the Senate until January 3, 1937. After completing Morrow's unfinished term, Barbour was unsuccessful in his 1936 reelection bid. For the next two years, he resumed his former pursuits, including service as a member of the New Jersey unemployment compensation commission in 1937. Barbour regained his Senate seat on November 8, 1938, when he was again appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of A. Harry Moore
A. Harry Moore
Arthur Harry Moore was a Democrat who was the 39th Governors of New Jersey, serving three terms between 1926 and 1941. He was the longest-serving New Jersey Governor in the 20th century and the only New Jersey Governor elected to serve three separate non-consecutive terms...
. Popularly elected to the office in 1940 after completing Moore's term, he served as U.S. Senator from New Jersey until his death in 1943.
While Barbour evidenced no personal history of an interest in Jewish affairs prior to rejoining the Senate in 1940, the plight of victims of Nazi genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
stirred him deeply. In April 1943, along with many other Congressmen and Senators, Barbour may have attended a performance of We Will Never Die, a pageant
Pageant
A medieval pageant is a form of procession traditionally associated with both secular and religious rituals, often with a narrative structure. Pageantry was an important aspect of medieval European seasonal festivals, in particular around the celebration of Corpus Christi, which began after the...
written by Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of...
and produced by the Bergson Group to commemorate two million European Jews who had already been murdered. In the fall of 1943, he was one of a small group of senators and congressmen who, together with the vice president, met with 400 rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
s who marched with the Bergson Group in Washington in 1943, shortly before Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
, the Jewish Day of Atonement. It was hoped their march would encourage the United States government to take a formal stand against the Holocaust. While President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
did not meet with the rabbis, Senator Barbour, along with a handful of Congressional colleagues, met them on the steps of the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
and expressed his commitment to their cause.
On October 14, 1943, barely a week after meeting with the rabbis, and despite strong public and political opinion against allowing further immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
to the United States, Barbour introduced a bill that would have permitted as many as 100,000 victims of the Holocaust "who are now being persecuted either because of racial or religious belief" to come to America and to remain in the United States as visitors for the duration of the war. This would have been a significant change from the existing policy limiting immigration to only 2% of the number of their countrymen who had been in the United States as of the 1890 Census
United States Census, 1890
The Eleventh United States Census was taken June 2, 1890. The data was tabulated by machine for the first time. The data reported that the distribution of the population had resulted in the disappearance of the American frontier...
.
Barbour's death just a few weeks later in November, 1943, prevented him from working toward passage of the bill. His support of the rabbis, however, and his subsequent actions in the Senate did much to increase political and public awareness of and compassion for the victims of Nazi genocide.
Death and burial
Senator Barbour died of a cerebral hemorrhage on November 22, 1943 at age 55 at his home in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He is buried with his parents and a brother, Robert Barbour, at Cedar Lawn Cemetery
Cedar Lawn Cemetery, Paterson, New Jersey
Cedar Lawn Cemetery is a cemetery located in Paterson, New Jersey. Cedar Lawn was founded in 1867, and is considered one of the finest Victorian cemeteries in the United States. As of 2009, over 83,000 interments have been recorded at the cemetery....
in Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
. Divorced at the time of his death, he was survived by three children and, subsequently, ten grandchildren.