Harriette Bailey Conn facts for kids

Harriette Bailey Conn (September 22, 1922 – August 21, 1981) was an American lawyer and politician. A civil rights activist who became known for her efforts assist minorities, women, and defendants in Indiana's criminal justice system, Conn became the first woman and the first African American to serve as Indiana's state public defender in 1970. She also served as Indianapolis' assistant city attorney from 1968 to 1970, and twice won election to the Indiana House of Representatives (representing Marion County, Indiana (Indianapolis)) as a Republican until she resigned her legislative seat to become the state public defender.

Education and family

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

Bailey attended Indianapolis Public Schools and graduated from Crispus Attucks High School(then the only high school serving the African American community) in 1937 at the age of fourteen. She then enrolled at Talladega College in Alabama, where she majored in English and speech. Before graduating in 1941, Bailey became a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the first woman president of the school's Little Theater.

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

Career

Conn was admitted to the Indiana Bar in 1955. Her early career included a year (1955–56) as a deputy attorney general in Indiana. There she worked with or represented state units including 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.

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

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. The Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis holds her papers.

Honors and awards

• Inducted into Crispus Attucks High School Hall of Fame in 1970
• Awarded an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree from Franklin College in 1971
• Named a Sagamore of the Wabash in 1962 and in 1979