Henry Barnard was born on January 24, 1811, in Hartford, Connecticut.

He was an American lawyer, educationalist, and reformer. In 1830, he graduated from Yale University, and in 1835, he was admitted to the Connecticut bar. In 1837, he was elected to the General Assembly of the Connecticut House of Representatives (Whig party), where he introduced legislation meant to aid the deaf, blind, and "insane." This activism soon brought him to focus on improving public education in America, which he believed was essential to keeping Americans able to self-govern. From 1845 to 1849, he was the first commissioner of public schools in Connecticut, responsible for significant educational progress. In 1845, Barnard established the first Rhode Island Teachers Institute at Smithville Seminary. In 1867, he was appointed the first Commissioner of Education of the United States. He was also an editor of the American Journal of Education, the Connecticut Common School Journal, and the Journal of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction.

He died on July 5, 1900, in Hartford, Connecticut.