Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. (born
March 6,
1936) served as
Democratic mayor of
Washington, D.C. from
1979 to
1991. He was forced to leave office as a result of a
cocaine arrest, but afterward was elected to the D.C. council and ultimately the mayoralty, serving a new term from
1995 to
1999.
Barry was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi. He grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and graduated from LeMoyne College[?] there. He joined the US civil rights movement and was elected the first chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
