Sandra Barnhill oral history interview, August 7, 2014

Interviewed by Morna Gerrard. Sandra Barnhill begins by discussing her family, including their strong sense of spirituality and experiences living overseas because of her father's position in the military. She discusses her undergraduate education at Agnes Scott College and Georgia State University, and attending law school at the University of Texas. While in law school, Barnhill began working at a legal assistance clinic, where she provided legal resources to inmates. As a result of this work and some of her law school coursework, Barnhill became interested in providing access to legal services for disenfranchised people. After law school, she began practicing law involving death penalty cases. Barnhill discusses the racism and sexism she experienced in a profession dominated by white men. During her time working on death penalty and prison condition cases, Barnhill became interested in the specific needs of women prisoners, and she eventually founded the organization that became Foreverfamily, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting children of incarcerated parents.