Left Panel: Marion Barry Legacy Project

Barry served as president of the Washington D.C. School Board from 1971 to 1974. This was his first politically elected appointment and put him on the road to eventually becoming Mayor.

Marion Barry at his 1971 victory party after winning the School Board election

Marion Barry founded PRIDE, INC in 1967 with his former wife, Mary Treadwell, and Rufus “Catfish” Mayfield as a way to employ and empower black youth in Washington D.C. The Department of Labor-funded program provided job training to unemployed Black men in Washington D.C.

PRIDE, INC headquarters

Barry was born on March 6, 1936, in Itta Bena, Mississippi. He often said that his formative years, shaped by the political climate and oppressive racial tension, made him the man he was, determined to change the conditions of the forgotten poor.

Young Marion Barry and his mother

Barry earned a graduate degree in chemistry from Fisk University in 1960. Using the image of Fisk University in the mural, underscores Marion Barry’s commitment to education and how the pursuit of education changed his life.

Fisk University

BIG VISION

This mural was designed by the CreativeJunkFood artist team led by Nabeeh Bilal.Photos provided courtesy of the Marion Barry Jr. Legacy Foundation, DC Public Library, and the Library of Congress.

The first panel of the mural references people, places, and programs crucial to Mayor Marion Barry’s early years. Meant to inspire, the panel title, “Big Vision,” refers to a quote from Mayor Barry that says in order to achieve great things, one must have “Big Dreams and Big Goals.”Click on an image in this mural panel to learn more about it.

Baker founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960 and served as its primary advisor and strategist. She mentored many of SNCC’s young activists.

Ella Baker

Barry was a young student in 1960 when he attended a civil rights planning and strategy conference on non-violent civil disobedience with MLK Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia.

Marion Barry and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Barry served as chairman and Cox worked as an organizer.

Marion Barry and Courtland Cox

Carmichael and Barry were great friends, activists, and members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Stokely Carmichael and Marion Barry

Barry and Lewis were both founding members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and each served as chairman at different points.

Marion Barry and John Lewis

This image pays homage to Marion Barry’s origin as the son of sharecroppers in Itta Bena, Mississippi. The harsh realities and memories of sharecropping were never lost on Barry and remained with him throughout his life.

Sharecroppers

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Barry founded PRIDE, INC in 1967 with his wife at the time, Mary Treadwell, and Rufus “Catfish” Mayfield as a way to employ and empower black youth in Washington D.C. The Department of Labor-funded program provided job training to unemployed Black men in Washington D.C.

Marion Barry with a PRIDE, INC member

Marion Barry served as the first chairman of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee after its founding in 1960.

SNCC logo

Free DC was a political crusade led by Marion Barry from 1965-1970 to fully enfranchise Washingtonians, through grassroots organizing and pressuring the Federal government to address the political, social, and economic ills that plagued the nation's capital for nearly a century.

Free DC movement logo

These leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) are pictured in the symbolic SNCC pose. Donaldson would go on to serve in Mayor Barry’s administration as Deputy Mayor.

Ivanhoe Donaldson, Marion Barry, and James Forman

This bus provides a link to the middle panel of the mural by signaling Barry’s mayoral future that started when he was first elected Mayor of Washington D.C. in 1979.

The Barry Bus from Marion Barry’s first mayoral campaign