His dissertation, completed at Temple University, was published as The
Rastafarians: a study of
Messianic cultism in Jamaica in 1969.[4][5] His book Soul-Force: African Heritage in Afro-American Religion was a finalist for the
National Book Award for Philosophy And Religion in 1975.[6] His book The Rastafarians: the Dreadlocks of Jamaica was reviewed favorably in the 1970s by academics and has become one of the standard anthropological examinations of the religious movement.[3][4] It was republished on its twentieth anniversary in 1997.[7] He published widely on various aspects of religious or spiritual life in Jamaica.[8] Barrett also contributed to reference texts in the field of religion.[9]
He was a professor at Temple University.[10] He also taught at colleges in Jamaica, Connecticut, and Puerto Rico.[2]
Awards and honors
In 1983, he was awarded the Alumni Citation Award from Albright College.[11]
His life inspired one of his sons, Terry Lee Barrett, to write a semi-autobiographical novel based on the stories his father told him about Jamaican religion and spirituality.[12]
Works
The Rastafarians: a study of Messianic cultism in Jamaica, Caribbean monograph series, no. 6. (Puerto Rico: University of Puerto Rico, Institute of Caribbean Studies, 1969).[13]
Soul-Force: African Heritage in Afro-American Religion, C. Eric Lincoln Series on Black Religion (New York: Anchor Press, 1974).[14]
The Rastafarians: the Dreadlocks of Jamaica (Kingston, Jamaica: Sangster's Book Stores, 1977).
OCLC932266388
A revised and updated edition titled TheRastafarians: the Sounds of Cultural Difference was published in 1988 that included new research and a new afterword.[19]
It was also republished in a 20th anniversary edition in 1997, titled The Rastafarians;[7] this was republished in 2014.[20]
^"Dr. Leonard E. Barrett [photograph]". Temple University. Retrieved 2022-02-01. Dr. Leonard E. Barrett, of Temple University's English department, is photographed in his office.