Harriette Bailey Conn

Harriette Bailey Conn (September 22, 1922 – August 21, 1981) was an American lawyer and politician. She was the first woman and the first African American to serve as a state public defender in Indiana. She was also an Indiana state legislator, local attorney, and civil rights activist who is best known for her efforts assist minorities, women, and Indiana's criminal justice system defendants. Conn graduated from Talladega College in Alabama in 1941 and earned a law degree from the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis in 1955. Prior to her public defender appointment in 1970, Conn served as deputy attorney general in Indiana (1955 to 1965), maintained a private law practice in Indianapolis, was twice elected as a representative from Marion County, Indiana, to the Indiana General Assembly (in 1966 and in 1968), and served as assistant city attorney in Indianapolis from 1968 to 1970. Throughout her career Conn was active in numerous legal, political, and civic organizations that included the American Bar Association, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Republican National Committee, as well as the Indianapolis Bar Association, the Indianapolis Women's Political Caucus, and the Indianapolis Urban League, among other groups.

Education and family

Harriette Vesta Bailey was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on September 22, 1922.[1] She was the second child of Nelle Vesta (Hayes) and Robert L. Bailey.[2] Her father served as an Indiana deputy attorney general from 1930 to 1932 and was a prominent civil rights lawyer in the state who was involved in the early efforts of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.[1][3]

Bailey attended Indianapolis Public Schools and graduated from Crispus Attucks High School in 1937 at the age of fourteen, before enrolling at Talladega College in Alabama and majoring in English and speech. Bailey became a member of member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority during college and the first woman president of the school's Little Theater.[1]

Bailey returned to Indianapolis after graduating from college in 1941 and married Clifton F. Conn Sr. While raising a family of seven children (two daughters and five sons), she enrolled in law school at Indianapolis and graduated from the Indiana University School of Law in 1955. The Conns divorced in 1961.[3][4]

Career

Conn was admitted to the Indiana Bar in 1955 and the to Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1971. Conn maintained a private law practice in Indianapolis in addition to serving as an Indiana deputy attorney general; a Marion County, Indiana, deputy prosecutor; a state legislator, an assistant city attorney for Indianapolis; and a state public defender.[5] Conn remained active in numerous legal, political, and civic organizations throughout her life.[2]

Early years

Conn's early career included a year (1955–56) as a deputy attorney general of Indiana. Her departmental assignments included working with the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, the Indiana State Teachers' Retirement Fund, and the Indiana Public Employees Retirement Fund. In addition, Conn briefly worked for the Indiana State Highway Department.[1][4]

In February 1965, Conn joined Marie T. Lauck and Jane Hunt Davis to form a private law practice in Indianapolis.[6] Later that year Conn began serving as a Marion County, Indiana, deputy prosecuting attorney in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, a position she held until shortly after her election as a state representative in 1966. Because state laws prohibited a state employee from serving as a state legislator, Conn had to resign from her position as deputy prosecuting attorney.[4]

State legislator

Conn, a Republican, was twice elected as state representative from Marion County to the Indiana General Assembly (in 1966 and in 1968). In the 95th and 96th sessions of the state legislature, Conn became chairperson of the Indiana Welfare and Social Security Committee, as well as a member of the state's Constitutional Revision Commission and the Judiciary Committee. Conn was best known for introducing a bill advocating abortion reform. It passed the Indiana House of Representatives and a modified version passed the Indiana Senate, but Indiana governor Roger D. Branigin vetoed the legislation. Conn also introduced a bill that expanded women's property rights that became law in 1967 and sponsored bills related to civil rights, aid to dependent children, and private slum clearance.[3][4][6]

Civic attorney and public defender

In 1968, while still serving as a state representative, Conn became an assistant city attorney for Indianapolis under Richard Lugar's mayoral administration and remained in that position until 1970. As an assistant city attorney, Conn served as legal council to the Indianapolis City-County Council and an advisor to the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission. She later served as chairman of the Indiana Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.[3][6]

Effective May 1, 1970, Conn was appointed as a public defender for the State of Indiana,[3] becoming the first woman and first African American to hold the position. The public defender's office provided legal services to Indiana inmates who were unable to afford private legal council to appeal their convictions and sentences. As a result of the appointment, Conn was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.[2][4] Conn also made an unsuccessful bid for Marion County municipal court judge in 1974, but she was defeated in the primary and remained a public defender until her death in 1981. In addition to her duties as a public defender, Conn served as the office's chief administrative officer at a time when the office's heavy caseload caused the staff to increase from three in 1970 to twenty-seven in 1981.[6]

Community leader

Conn was a leader in civic affairs, which included membership in numerous professional and political organizations such as the American Bar Association, the Marion County Bar Association, and the Indianapolis Bar Association, where she was among its first black members. Conn was also a member of the Republican National Committee, the Indiana Women Lawyers Association, the Indianapolis Lawyers Commission, and the Indianapolis Women's Political Caucus, among others.[2][6]

In addition, Conn was involved in civil rights groups, including a life member of the NAACP and chairperson of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Indiana State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, as well as the Indianapolis Urban League, Citizens Forum, and the Indianapolis Senior Citizens Center, among other civic organizations. Conn also remained active in the Talladega College Alumni Association, as a member of the advisory board at Vincennes University, and the Chi chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in Indianapolis, where she served as its president in 1963.[2][6]

Death and legacy

Conn died unexpectedly of a heart attack on August 21, 1981, at the age of fifty-eight. She is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. Conn is best known for her service as a public defender, state legislator, lawyer, and civil rights activist who devoted her career to assisting minorities, women, and criminal justice system defendants in Indiana.[2]

Honors/awards

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Everyday People: Harriette Bailey Conn". Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. 20 (3): 30. Summer 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Harriette B. Conn leaves rich legacy as an attourney, officeholder, lawmaker". Indianapolis Recorder. Indianapolis, Indiana. August 29, 1981.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Emma Lou Thornbrough, "The History of Black Women in Indiana," in Gibbs, Wilma L. ed. (2007). Indiana's African American Heritage: Essays from Black History News & Notes (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. pp. 84–85. ISBN 0-87195-099-5.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Harriette Conn: Hoosier in Profile". The Indianapolis Star Magazine. Indianapolis, Indiana: 41–42. June 24, 1973.
  5. ↑ "Harriette Conn, 58, Public Defender". Indianapolis News. Indianapolis, Indiana. August 22, 1981.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Everyday People," p. 31.

References

  • "Everyday People: Harriette Bailey Conn". Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. 20 (3): 30–31. Summer 2008.
  • "Harriette Conn, 58, Public Defender". Indianapolis News. Indianapolis, Indiana. August 22, 1981.
  • "Harriette Conn: Hoosier in Profile". The Indianapolis Star Magazine. Indianapolis, Indiana: 41–44. June 24, 1973.
  • "Harriette B. Conn leaves rich legacy as an attourney, officeholder, lawmaker". Indianapolis Recorder. Indianapolis, Indiana. August 29, 1981.
  • Thornbrough, Emma Lou, "The History of Black Women in Indiana," in Wilma L. Gibbs, ed. (2007). Indiana’s African American Heritage: Essays from Black History News & Notes (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. pp. 67–85. ISBN 0-87195-099-5.
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