Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository
Watkinson Library (Rare books & Special Watkinson Finding Aids Collections)
2017
Ben Barber Papers
Trinity College, Hartford Connecticut
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Ben Barber papers MS2017.001
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on October 26, 2017.
Watkinson Library--Manuscript Collections Trinity College Library 300 Summit St. Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Ben Barber papersMS2017.001
Table of Contents
Summary Information ...... 3 Biographical / Historical ...... 3 Scope and Contents ...... 4 Arrangement ...... 4 Administrative Information ...... 4 Controlled Access Headings ...... 5 Collection Inventory ...... 5 Series 1: Writings...... 5 Series 2: Poetry ...... 6 Series 3: Biographical and Personal ...... 7 Series 4: United State Agency for International Development ...... 8 Series 5: Photographs ...... 8 Series 6: Journalism Notebooks...... 9 Series 7: Teaching and Workshop Materials ...... 10 Series 8: Published Materials and Press Clippings ...... 10
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Ben Barber papersMS2017.001
Summary Information
Repository: Watkinson Library--Manuscript Collections Creator: Barber, Ben Title: Ben Barber papers ID: MS2017.001 Date [inclusive]: 1962-2014 Physical Description: 25 Cubic Feet In 20 Rsc, 13 clamshell, 2 document boxes Physical Description: 80.6 Gigabytes Digital photographs Language of the English Material: Abstract: Writings, notebooks, correspondence and photographs document Barber’s work as an international journalist from the late 1970’s to 2014; materials are included from Trinity, as are the notebooks of poetry he wrote after graduation (1962-1979); also included are materials from the United States Agency for International Development, where Barber was a senior writer and editorial director of Frontlines (2002-2010)
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Biographical / Historical
Born in Warwick, England in 1944, Ben Barber immigrated to the United States with his Czech parents and grew up in Bronx, NY as a child. He attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in French Literature in 1964. After graduation, Barber attended the Sorbonne in Paris for one year and received a certificate in French Language and Literature in 1965. Focusing his attention on writing and poetry he traveled to Asia, North Africa and Europe. In the mid-1970’s Barber began submitting features for publication. He returned to school to earn a Master’s degree in Journalism from Boston University in 1979. Beginning in 1982 he worked as a freelance foreign correspondent for the Washington Times, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, and many international publications. In 1987, he was awarded a Gannett Fellowship in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii. He worked for UPI as an international desk editor from 1989 to 1990. He was promoted to State Department Bureau Chief and Assistant Foreign Editor at the Washington Times in 1994 and it was during this tenure that Barber was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for pieces on the Hmong people in Laos and America. He covered foreign affairs, economic development, conflict, health, and politics while at the Washington Times. He travelled with President Clinton to the Middle East peace talks and later with Secretary Powell
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Ben Barber papersMS2017.001 until 2002. From 2002 until 2010, Barber was a senior writer for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and was the editorial director of Frontlines, their monthly newsletter. While working for USAID, Barber reported on and photographed aid projects in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, among others. In 2010 Barber began working as a foreign correspondent for the Huffington Post and the McClatchy Newspapers. His book Groundtruth: Work, Play and Conflict in the Third World was published in 2014. Over the years Barber worked as an adjunct international communications professor at George Mason University and Georgetown University and taught media seminars to journalists in Africa.
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Scope and Contents
The Ben Barber papers consist of story proposals, journalism and poetry notebooks, and news service copy; correspondence between Barber, fellow journalists, editors and friends; photographs that accompany his work as a journalist and senior editor for USAID; personal papers from his time as a student and professor. Throughout his career as a journalist Barber focused on social injustice, economic policy and conflict in developing countries and beyond.
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Arrangement
Arranged in 8 series: Series 1. Writings, 1975-2015; Series 2. Poetry, 1960-1979; Series 3. Biographical and personal, 1962-2012; Series 4. United States Agency for International Development, 2002-2010; Series 5. Photographs, 1965-2014; Series 6. Journalism Notebooks, 1975-2013; Series 7. Teaching and Workshop Materials, 1992-2002; Series 8. Published Materials and Press Clippings, 1978-2014.
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Administrative Information
Publication Statement Watkinson Library--Manuscript Collections
Trinity College Library 300 Summit St.
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Ben Barber papersMS2017.001 Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Processing Information Processed by Jennifer Hayner
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Controlled Access Headings
• Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.) Alumni and alumnae. • Freelance Journalism • United States Agency for International Development • Barber, Ben
Collection Inventory
Series 1: Writings, 1975-2014 Scope and Contents
Scope and Content: This series contains fiction and non-fiction story proposals loosely arranged in chronological order by decade. Much of the material was published, but not all. Includes drafts with detailed hand-written notes, as well as Compass and Observer News Service copy of articles that were published. Barber did create some folders and groupings of articles in different stages of the writing process, and in a few cases included the final published clipping. These are kept together when possible.
Title/Description Instances
Box 1, 1977-1982 Scope and Contents
Barber’s earliest writing is semi-autobiographical and based on his own travels abroad and at home in the late 1960’s and early 70’s. Included are stories in which Barber uses pseudonyms in lieu of his own name to describe: his time in Cyprus and his time with a group called The Motherfuckers who rode around California in a yellow school bus in the late ‘60’s. After working in and around Boston as a substitute teacher and cable installer Barber volunteered as a broadcast news writer for Colonial Cablevision in Revere, MA. This series contains articles he wrote while covering the local news beat in Lynn and Waltham, Massachusetts in 1978-79 before moving on to a freelance position with the Boston Globe in 1980 and the Boston Herald-American in 1981. Included is a series on the disappearing trees of Waltham, Timothy Leary’s return to Boston, and an article opposing Haiti’s corrupt leader Jean-Claude Duvalier. The series also contains editorials on Afghanistan, the Polish uprising against Russia, Passover and divorced parenting that Barber sent to The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and
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Ben Barber papersMS2017.001
Newsday. Included are feature pieces that Barber penned under the name John Stone for The Atlantic Magazine about the communist rule in Czechoslovakia during the 60’s and 70’s.
Box 2, 1982-1987 Scope and Contents
Based in Morocco, Algeria and the Western Sahara in the spring of 1982, Barber reported on the Polisario War while travelling to the liberated zone with guerillas. This series contains stories he submitted on the Kibbutz crisis and the Israel withdrawal from the Sinai to the London Observer, Omni Magazine, and the Pacific News Service, among others. From October of 1982 to January of 1983 Barber was based in Bangkok as a freelance foreign reporter for various news outlets before heading to Miami to be a local reporter for the Miami Herald from September to December of that year. Included are pieces he wrote while reporting on the people living in Bangkok slums and on the Cambodian humanitarian crisis. In 1983 Barber also began working as a special correspondent covering Florida and the Caribbean for the USA Today until 1986. Included are features on the Nicaraguan refugees in Miami and the U.S. policy on the Haitian boat people. Barber continually submitted stories to American as well as international publications such as the Dallas Morning Star, the Toledo Blade, MacLean’s and Actualite during these years. In the fall of 1986 Barber was awarded a Gannett Fellowship in Asian Studies for Journalists at the University of Hawaii for the 1986-87 academic year.
Box 3, 1987-1999 Scope and Contents
From May 1987 to August of 1988 Barber was based in Bangkok and began contributing material to the San Francisco Examiner and San Diego Union. Included are write-ups on: the Indian army’s battle for Jaffna in Sri Lanka; Tibetan refugees thriving in Kathmandu exile; tourists being kept on Maldives resort islands to protect Muslim natives; Sikh rebels at the Golden Temple in India; and Thailand’s border clash with the Vietnamese at Chong Boka as well as pieces on Japan, Bangladesh, Cambodia and China. In August 1988 Barber became a freelance reporter for the Washington Post, and in 1989 he was assigned to the International Desk Editor in Washington for the United Press International (UPI) until 1990. Barber continued to freelance as a foreign correspondent for various publications through the early 1990’s. In 1994 Barber became the State Department Correspondent for the Washington Times. Also included in the series are articles he wrote on the Hmong people of Laos and America that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by the Times, as well as write-ups on the Israeli peace talks and Bill Clinton’s foreign policy agenda.
Box 4, 2010-2014 Scope and Contents
From 2010-2014 Barber was an online columnist on foreign affairs for the McClatchy Washington Bureau and the Huffington Post. Included are copies of articles on Osama Bin Laden, Secretary Clinton’s visit to Yemen, the Arab Spring, African lead mine poisoning children and the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. This series also contains a published account of the people he met while working in developing countries titled Groundtruth: Work, Play and Conflict in the Third-World, as well earlier manuscripts on the same topic.
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Series 2: Poetry, 1960-1979
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Ben Barber papersMS2017.001
Scope and Contents
Includes five small notebooks that also double as address books and journals, as well as small pamphlets, books of published poetry, and single sheets of unpublished materials in dated folders.
Title/Description Instances
Box 5, 1960-1978 Scope and Contents
Contains published volumes such as “Poetry Vortex America” (1969), “Songs Along the Way” (1971), “Winter at Wendell Depot” (1976) and “The Machinery of Your Heart” (1977), among others. His poetry is included in the “Telephone 14” (1975) and “Beatitude 26” (1977) anthologies. The majority of materials in this box are typed on loose paper that was grouped and stapled to form volumes.
Box 6, 1960-1979 Scope and Contents
Includes hand-written, typed and photocopied single sheets of poetry, some of which is bound together or foldered. Dates and places are sometimes included. Included is an anthology of poems from the Poetry Society of New Hampshire called “Touchstone” (1979) in which Barber writes a guest editorial on “Poetry Therapy Workshop Principles”.
Box 7, 1970-1978 Scope and Contents
Included are five dated notebooks Barber used to document his time traveling in London, Paris and Nepal, Seattle and California. Each contains poetry, letters, addresses, diary entries, and in one instance, drawings of furniture Barber hoped to create while living on a commune in California.
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Series 3: Biographical and Personal, 1962-2012 Scope and Contents
This series contains school papers Barber wrote while he was an undergraduate at Trinity College (1962-1964). Also included are resumes, professional references, and both professional and personal correspondence from his years as an international journalist and editorial director for USAID.
Title/Description Instances
Box 8, 1962-1990
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Ben Barber papersMS2017.001
Scope and Contents
Contains papers written by Barber on religion, philosophy and geography while at Trinity College where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964. Also includes a class reunion guide from 1990 for the class of 1964 in which Barber contributes a personal statement.
Box 9, 1965-2014 Scope and Contents
Contains updated versions of resumes and references, as well as applications for fellowships. The bulk of this series is made up of personal and professional correspondence. The professional correspondence includes publication and rejection notices, as well as advice on what topics to cover from various editors. Personal correspondence between Barber, friends, and family members is included. In particular there are letters to and from U.S. Voice of America broadcast service director, former Cape Cod Times reporter and Wethersfield, CT native Brendan Murphy (1953-2012), who Barber met while at Boston University.
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Series 4: United State Agency for International Development, 2002-2010 Scope and Contents
This series documents Barber’s time as a senior writer for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and editorial director for Frontlines
through notes, articles and photos.
Title/Description Instances
Box 10, 2002-2012 Scope and Contents
Contains letters, articles, notes and pictures on humanitarian projects, including a trip to Nepal, notes on the Assassination of Larry Foley, pictures taken on a humanitarian mission to Iraq in 2003, photos of the destruction caused by the Tsunami in Thailand in 2004, and an article on aid to Egypt in 2007. Also Includes copies of the monthly newsletter Frontlines.
Box 11, 2002-2010 Scope and Contents
Contains publicatons on humanitarian aid to developing countires like Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, among others, as well as Frontlines newsletters.
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Series 5: Photographs, 1965-2014
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Ben Barber papersMS2017.001
Scope and Contents
Includes professional photographers that document Barber’s work as journalist as well as personal photos
Title/Description Instances
Box 12, 1965-2014 Scope and Contents
Contains photographs that accompany the news stories Barber wrote while on location in developing countries during his time as a foreign correspondent. Includes photos from Afghanistan, Egypt, Haiti, Mexico City, Mozambique, Greece and Turkey that document the way of life in these developing countries. There are pictures of Barber with Secretary Powell’s press corp. in 2000, undated slides from Finland, and assorted negatives. Also included are personal photos.
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Series 6: Journalism Notebooks, 1975-2013 Scope and Contents
This series includes Boxes 13 to 22 which contain the 100-plus small notebooks Barber used while on location. The notebooks include source information and outlines for news feature that appeared in various publications. Notes on stories from Algeria, Burma, Calucutta, Cambodia, Chad, Delhi, Ecuador, Haiti, Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Romania, Saigon, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Western Sahara, and other places are included. Dates are marked on each box.
Title/Description Instances
Box 13, 1970's-1980's, undated
Box 14, 1970's-1980's
Box 15, 1980's
Box 16, 1993-1994
Box 17, 1995
Box 18, 1996
Box 19, 1997-1998
Box 20, 1999
Box 21, 2000-2002
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Ben Barber papersMS2017.001
Box 22, 2010-2013
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Series 7: Teaching and Workshop Materials, 1992-2002 Scope and Contents
Includes materials from courses and workshops Barber taught in the United States and Africa
Title/Description Instances
Box 23, 1992-2002 Scope and Contents
Contains materials from journalism workshops that Barber taught in Africa from 1992 to 95, as well as at the United States Information Agency in Washington, D.C. in 1994. Barber taught a course at Georgetwon University in the fall of 1999 on Foreign Reporting and Foreign Policy and a course on International News and Foreign Policy at George Mason University in the spring of 2002.
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Series 8: Published Materials and Press Clippings, 1978-2014 Scope and Contents
Contains publications and press clippings from the newspapers and magazines Barber reported for. Boxes 24-35 include newspapers and clippings from the Washington Times, USA Today, as well as the magazines the World and I, American Legion and Omni. Scrapbooks with photocopies of clippings are included as well as Also includes maps of Europe, India, Iraq and a 1911 map of Prague.
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