George Barry Ford
George Barry Ford (October 28, 1885 – August 1, 1978) was an American Roman Catholic priest, advocate of civil rights, and the chaplain who, along with Fr. Moore, led Thomas Merton to the Roman Catholic Church. He was twice silenced by Cardinal Francis Spellman, and was a close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt and Carlton J. H. Hayes. Dr. Henry P. Van Dusen, then president of Union Theological Seminary next to Corpus Christi, described Father Ford as "the best known and best loved man in the Morningside Heights community".

Ford worked to establish the research institute and think tank Freedom House along with Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Elizabeth Cutter Morrow, Dorothy Thompson, Herbert Agar, Herbert Bayard Swope, Ralph Bunche, Roscoe Drummond, and Rex Stout. He also helped establish the Church Peace Union that today is the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (New York Times obituary). Ford was a disciple of educational reformer John Dewey, who was a professor at Columbia's Teacher's College, and he eventually received the John Dewey Award.

In 1938, Thomas Merton sought Ford out at Corpus Christi Church to seek instruction in the Catholic faith. That same year, when Servant of God Catherine Doherty, Baroness de Hueck, arrived in New York, he gave her free rent in Harlem, which was a key to her success in establishing Friendship House that became a key center of the future Madonna House Apostolate. He also contributed frequently to her support.

In 1954 he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) degree from Columbia University. He also received honorary degrees from Manhattan College and Seton Hall College.

In 1966 he served on the historic Ad hoc Commission on Rights of Soviet Jews. It was chaired by Bayard Rustin, and established by the Conference on the Status of Soviet Jews, offering a public tribunal on Jewish life in the Soviet Union.

Fr. Ford is thanked in the liner notes to George Carlin's 1972 album Class Clown, for although Carlin rejected the Catholic faith, he remembered Ford with cultural appreciation, and credited him for teaching him how to ask questions and think.

Ford was an early champion of the Catholic Ordination of Women.
Q335011
Thomas Merton
PER
Q547185
Cardinal Francis Spellman
PER
Q83396
Eleanor Roosevelt
PER
Q5043027
Carlton J. H. Hayes
PER
Q748485
Morningside Heights
LOC
Q242424
Freedom House
ORG
Q698714
Wendell Willkie
PER
Q312502
Fiorello La Guardia
PER
Q5362653
Elizabeth Cutter Morrow
PER
Q275545
Dorothy Thompson
PER
Q3785131
Herbert Agar
PER
Q15524682
Herbert Bayard Swope
PER
Q213500
Ralph Bunche
PER
Q16010338
Roscoe Drummond
PER
Q337351
Rex Stout
PER
Q5043890
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
ORG
Q131805
John Dewey
PER
Q5172639
Corpus Christi Church
LOC
Q2028414
Catherine Doherty
PER
Q5504401
Friendship House
UNK
Q3279711
Madonna House Apostolate
MEDIA
Q2749572
Manhattan College
LOC
Q585828
Seton Hall College
LOC
Q187930
Bayard Rustin
PER
Q150651
George Carlin
PER
Q5127975
Class Clown
MEDIA
Q419529
Ordination of Women
Concept
Q94502000
George Barry Ford
PER
1885-10-28T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
October 28, 1885
DATE
1978-08-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
August 1, 1978
DATE
1938-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1938
DATE
1954-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1954
DATE
1966-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1966
DATE
1972-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1972
DATE
founded by
founded by
founded by
performer