Thurbert Baker
Born December 16, 1952, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker was raised by his mother, Mary H. Baker, on a small rural farm. He attended public elementary and high schools in Rocky Mount and, in 1975, received a B.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He graduated from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta in 1979.
From 1979 to 1985, Baker worked as a public defender before entering private practice. He was senior partner of the Baker and Shivers law firm from 1985 to 1997, during which time he won election to the Georgia House of Representatives, where he served from 1989 to 1997. He was named assistant floor leader for Governor Zell Miller in 1990 and floor leader in 1993.
Since 1997, Baker has served as the attorney general for the state of Georgia, the first African American to hold this position. Baker initiated the passage of legislation that increased penalties for domestic abuse cases, including a provision that made it a crime to commit an act of domestic violence in the presence of a child.
Baker serves on the executive committee of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), is convenor of the NAAG Civil Rights Committee, and also served as chairman of NAAG's Conference on Violence Against Women. He is also an adviser to the Harrell Center for the study of domestic violence at the University of South Florida.
Baker has been a board member of the DeKalb County Library, the National Medical Society at Emory University, and the DeKalb College Foundation, and is a trustee of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Baker, the 1975 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) individual sabre champion, was recognized in 2002 by the ACC as one of the top fencers in conference history when named to its fiftieth anniversary fencing team.
Baker and his wife, Catherine, live in Stone Mountain, Georgia. They have two daughters, Jocelyn and Chelsea.
A2003.193
Male
8/15/2003
Baker
Married
Rocky Mount High School
O R Pope Elementary
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Emory University School of Law
Thurbert
Rocky Mount
BAK02
Spring
Natalie DiSantis (assistant)
North Carolina
Florida
It Doesn't Get Any Better.

Georgia
12/16/1952
Atlanta
United States
Hamburgers
State attorney general Thurbert Baker (1952 - ) served two consecutive terms in the Georgia House of Representatives before becoming the first African American elected as attorney general for the state of Georgia, where he initiated legislation in the General Assembly increasing penalties for domestic abuse cases.
Baker & Shivers
George House of Representatives
State of Georgia
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Blue
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Thurbert Baker's interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Thurbert Baker lists his favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Thurbert Baker describes his mother's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Thurbert Baker describes his mother
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Thurbert Baker talks about his mother's occupations in Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Thurbert Baker describes his family life growing up in Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Thurbert Baker recalls his earliest childhood memory
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Thurbert Baker remembers the sights, sounds, and smells of growing up in rural North Carolina
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Thurbert Baker talks about attending O.R. Pope Elementary School, Baskerville Elementary School, and Parker Junior High School in Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Thurbert Baker recalls his favorite grade-school subjects and his desire to become a lawyer
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Thurbert Baker describes attending Primitive Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Thurbert Baker describes St. James Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and the role of music in his childhood
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Thurbert Baker talks about the teachers that influenced him at O.R. Pope Elementary School and Parker Junior High School in Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Thurbert Baker describes race relations in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, pt. 1
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Thurbert Baker describes race relations in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, pt. 2
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Thurbert Baker recalls his role in student government during the integration of Rocky Mount Senior High School
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Thurbert Baker remembers HistoryMaker Jerry Butler performing at his prom at Rocky Mountain Senior High School
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Thurbert Baker recounts his decision to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Thurbert Baker describes fencing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Thurbert Baker talks about University of North Carolina Dean and mentor, Hayden B. Renwick
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Thurbert Baker describes his years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1972 to 1976
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Thurbert Baker describes his decision to attend Emory Law School in Atlanta, Georgia
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Thurbert Baker describes the academic rigor of Emory Law School in Atlanta, Georgia
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Thurbert Baker talks about Atlanta, Georgia Mayor Maynard Jackson
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Thurbert Baker describes his legal career as a Fulton County, Georgia public defender and as a regional counsel for the Environmental Protection Agency
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Thurbert Baker recounts his decision to run for the Georgia State House of Representatives in 1989 while working in private practice
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Thurbert Baker describes his legislative career in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1988 to 1997
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Thurbert Baker explains how he became Attorney General of Georgia, and the political character of the State of Georgia
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Thurbert Baker describes his tough-on-crime initiatives as Georgia Attorney General
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Thurbert Baker talks about preventing crime in the African American community, and the roles of the family and the justice system, pt. 1
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Thurbert Baker talks about preventing crime in the African American community, and the roles of the family and the justice system, pt. 2
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Thurbert Baker describes his 2003 state constitutional conflict with Georgia governor Sonny Perdue
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Thurbert Baker describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Thurbert Baker reflects upon his legacy
Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Thurbert Baker talks about how he would like to be remembered
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