This environment pushed him further into policy-oriented civil rights work, where the focus was less on casework and more on systems. Barbour linked contemporary civil rights struggles to longer historical developments, including Enlightenment political thought, constitutional history, and international human rights principles emerging after World War II. Conclusion: A Transitional Civil Rights ThinkerWilliam Miller Barbour’s significance lies less in a single event or achievement than in his role as a transitional thinker within the civil rights ecosystem of the mid-twentieth century. Let us know what you think of William Miller Barbour below. W. Miller Barbour, “Breaking the Barriers: Anti-Negro Prejudice Lessens in Western Hotels,” Frontier, November 1954“W.