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Record Group Number: 900000
Series/Collection Number: M98- 3
Creator: Barkett, Rosemary
Title, Dates: Rosemary Barkett papers, 1970-1997.
Amount: 5.00 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement: Chronological.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:     Rosemary Barkett was born in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Her family moved to Miami in 1945 and she became a naturalized citizen in 1958. When she graduated from high school, she became a nun and taught school until her departure from the convent in the late 1960s.

    Barkett chose to continue her education, graduating from the University of Florida College of Law in 1970, where she became the first woman to receive the J. Hillis Memorial Award as the outstanding senior graduate. After law school she practiced civil law until her appointment by Governor Bob Graham to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court in 1979. She won election as chief judge in 1983, making her the first woman chief judge in Florida's history. In 1984 Governor Graham appointed her to the Fourth District Court of Appeals. In 1985 she became Florida's first woman Supreme Court Justice and in 1992 Florida's first woman Supreme Court Chief Justice. In 1993 President Bill Clinton nominated her for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which the U.S. Senate confirmed in 1994.

    Barkett has served on many boards and commissions and received many honorary doctorates. Her achievements in the legal profession have won her many awards from women's groups, the state of Florida and the legal community. She has been an advocate of children's issues and improvements in the state's juvenile justice system.

Summary:     This collection contains personal papers of Rosemary Barkett primarily documenting her legal and judicial career. Included in these papers are correspondence, newspaper clippings and magazine articles, biographical information, investiture transcripts, photographs, and awards. Most of the material deals with her appointment to the Fourth District Court of Appeals, the Florida Supreme Court and the Federal Appellate Court. There is also a significant amount of material documenting her 1992 Florida Supreme Court merit retention campaign.

Finding Aids: Folder listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
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Associated Materials: For an oral history interview of Rosemary Barkett, see Collection M98-5, Dr. Patricia Clements Oral History Interviews, 1997-1998 (8 compact disks).
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Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields: Barkett, Rosemary
Florida. Supreme Court.
Judges Florida
Women Florida
Women History 20th century Florida
Women judges Florida
Women lawyers Florida
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