Paul Mellon correspondence with E. Bartlett Barnes

Collection

Call Number: S007

Dates

1988 - 1999

Creator

Barnes, E. Bartlett

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is unprocessed and may not be available for immediate access.

Extent

.209 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/ycba.ia.S007

Additional Description

Biographical / Historical

E. Bartlett Barnes (1908-2004) was the scribe for the Yale ’29 class column of the Yale Alumni Magazine, beginning in 1966. He and Paul Mellon graduated in the same class at Yale and corresponded sporadically for 20 to 30 years. Barnes was the publisher and president of the Bristol Press for which he first began working as a reporter in 1937. From 1948-1949 he was President of the New England Newspaper Advertising Executives Association and Director of the Bureau of Advertising, American Newspaper Publishers Association.

Beginning in the mid-1950s, Barnes joined a small group of editors and publishers who launched a twenty year campaign for the creation of a state Freedom of Information Law. In 1969 he became President of the Bristol Industrial Development Corporation and Director of the Bristol Savings Bank. He served as Chairman of the Bristol Board of Education and as Director of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, holding both positions from 1985 to 1989. He was also a 67-year member and Paul Harris Fellow of the Bristol Rotary Club and a 50-year member and former deacon of the First Congregational Church in Bristol.

Barnes is credited with transforming the New England Carousel Museum into a nonprofit group dedicated to preservation and education, and he was a senior member of the Bristol Yale Club whose members raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for scholarships for local students. Barnes was also actively involved in providing guidance and support to local Bristol organizations including the Bristol Public Library, the American Clock and Watch Museum, the Family Center, and the Barnes Nature Center. He was heavily involved with the Boy’s Club, and contributed over 20,000 dollars to the Bristol chapters of the organization.