Barnard Way was announced in 1962 as the name for Santa Monica’s extension of Venice’s Speedway. The honoree: late Santa Monica mayor Benjamin Alvin “Ben” Barnard (1904-1960). Born and raised outside of Mitchell, SD, Barnard came to Los Angeles to attend UCLA – back when it was called “the Southern Branch of the University of California” – and graduated in 1926 with a B.A. in political science. He taught at Lincoln Jr. High until 1933, when he joined the faculty at Santa Monica (Junior) College. There he taught poli sci and economics for the rest of his life, even during his tenure on Santa Monica City Council, to which he was first elected in 1947. Barnard was named mayor in 1955 but a heart attack the next year forced him into semi-retirement. He recuperated, ran again in 1959, and was elected mayor once more. Alas, a second heart attack in July 1960 proved fatal. Barnard, who lived modestly in SM all his adult life, married fellow teacher Helen Thornton (1909-1994) in 1929. They had two sons.
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