Roberta Byrd Barr (1919-1993) was a civil rights leader, educator, and journalist. Born in Tacoma, Barr returned to Seattle in 1959, attending University of Washington and working as a teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, and then as librarian at John Muir Elementary. When Seattle teachers and parents boycotted the city’s public schools and demanded desegregation in 1966, Barr headed the alternative Freedom School, a temporary free school for African American students, at the YMCA.

From 1965 to 1972, Barr moderated the television show “Face to Face,” featuring discussions with guest speakers and the audience on race, desegregation, education, equity, and other topics often overlooked in the media. Barr was appointed vice-principal at Franklin High School in 1968, and principal at Lincoln High School in 1973, the first woman to serve as principal of a Seattle Public School.

Barr also had theater experience, having starred in the Cirque Theatre production of Raisin in the Sun in the early 1960s. In this photo, Roberta Byrd Barr works with young students who would be be performing in the musical play "Peace Child" at Seattle Center. The play, written by David Woolcombe and David Gordon, tells the story of an American boy and Russian girl who meet and grapple with the issue of peace betweeen their two countires. The performance, produced by Educators for Social Responsibility, featured 120 students of all ages and ethnicities from schools in Seattle and its suburbs.

Caption information source: "Peace Child mixes 120 local youngsters of all ages and races" by Joe Adcock, October 12, 1984, p. 57.
Caption information source: "Barr, Roberta Barr (1919-1993)" by Mary T. Henry, HistoryLink.org Essay 306.