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Jacqueline A. Berrien

American lawyer

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ21519577
Source-derived summary

Jacqueline Ann Berrien (November 28, 1961 – November 9, 2015), often known as Jackie Berrien, was an American civil rights attorney and government official. From 2009 to 2014, Berrien served as chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under President Barack Obama. Prior to this, Berrien had served as Associate Director Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (NAACP LDF).

Early life and education

Berrien was born on November 28, 1961, in Washington, D.C., where she was raised. Her mother, Ann Berrien, was a nurse who was a federal employee for three decades. Her father, Clifford Berrien, was a veteran of World War II who later worked for the Department of State to pay his college tuition. While a high school senior, Berrien became a clerk-typist for the federal government to afford to go to college.

Berrien attended Oberlin College, receiving a Harry S. Truman Scholarship in her junior year. While at Oberlin, Berrien would become close friends with future Representative Yvette Clarke, who spoke on her behalf during her Senate nomination. Berrien graduated from Oberlin with high honors in government in 1983 and would later serve as a trustee for the college.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Jacqueline A. Berrien” as american lawyer. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1961, 2015, 2009, 2014—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1961-11-28. The account is most persuasive where Jacqueline, Berrien and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american lawyer. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q21519577. VIAF identifies the subject as 251370315. The Library of Congress control number is no2012112790. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1961, 2015, 2009 and 2014.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Jacqueline A. Berrien”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Jacqueline A. Berrien primary sources, Jacqueline A. Berrien archive and Jacqueline research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jacqueline A. Berrien”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Jacqueline A. Berrien” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.