James Edward Barnett was one of the most successful promoters in professional wrestling history. The story of how Barnett got involved with wrestling goes as follows: Barnett reportedly earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard and then a masters from the University of Chicago. Following his graduation, he worked under Robert M. Hutchins as an administrative assistant for the University of Chicago President. Around 1949, as the tale goes, he returned to the "Windy City" from Europe, and bought a television - where he witnessed professional wrestling offered by Fred Kohler. A short time later, he bought one of Kohler's wrestling publications. Not enthused by the words he saw in print, Barnett sent a letter to the editor, and received a response telling him to come in and give it a go if he could do it better. That's what Barnett did. He went to work for Kohler alongside veteran publicity man and writer Dick Axman. Tim Hornbaker contacted Harvard University in January 2005 trying to confirm whether or not Barnett attended the school. A reference assistant checked both the University Archives and the Directory of Officers and Students, and could find no record that he actually attended or graduated from Harvard. A representative from the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center did confirm that Barnett received a Ph.B. from the school in December 1947. Barnett also worked as the Business Manager of the school's newspaper, the Maroon. According to Sonny Myers' 1953 tax form, which was part of the public record for his case against the National Wrestling Alliance and Pinkie George, he noted that $2,250 was paid to Barnett for booking fees. That lucrative amount was for just one wrestler, and Barnett had numerous "TV Stars" under contract to include Verne Gagne, Bill Melby, and Pat O'Connor. Barnett did give a percentage of that $2,250 to Kohler. Hy Goldberg of the Newark Evening News, in his column on January 17, 1954, credited Barnett with being responsible for the wrestling boom. Barnett reportedly "brought in Gagne, Schmidt, Pat O'Connor, Killer Kowalski, the Mighty Atlas," and through the success of the DuMont Network's programs out of Chicago, generated a wealth of attention. Goldberg said that Barnett was responsible for the rebirth of professional wrestling, not Kohler, and that Barnett took his wrestlers on the road, drawing big in Albany, Elmira, and even smaller cities, "where the attendance was triple the population." Interestingly, Barnett was a college guy, Goldberg stated, and when Ed "Strangler" Lewis entered a conference Jim was having with Kohler, Barnett didn't know who Lewis was. Barnett was the manager for Kohler's outside-Chicago ventures, and perhaps on the road, he did look like the man in charge. But Barnett was still second fiddle to Kohler, although he was making tremendous contacts and learning many aspects of the business that few were ever able to see. Not being a wrestler himself, Barnett was figuring out how to deal with wrestlers, promoters, and other officials, and making the system run better. After all, he was an intellectual. He wanted to improve Kohler's business, which would, in turn, help his own moneymaking opportunities. The April 2, 1980 edition of the Boston Globe reported that President Jimmy Carter nominated James E. Barnett, "a 55-year-old Atlanta wrestling promoter who has contributed $7,000 to Carter's presidential campaigns to the prestigious National Council on the Arts." Barnett had reportedly been involved with the Georgia Opera Company, the Atlanta Ballet, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Georgia Council of the Arts and Humanities. Copyright 2012 Tim Hornbaker |
| Jim Barnett Wrestling History |
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