Ben Barber Papers
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Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Watkinson Library (Rare books & Special Watkinson Finding Aids Collections) 2017 Ben Barber Papers Trinity College, Hartford Connecticut Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/watkinson_finding_aid Recommended Citation Trinity College, Hartford Connecticut, "Ben Barber Papers" (2017). Watkinson Finding Aids. 3. https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/watkinson_finding_aid/3 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Watkinson Library (Rare books & Special Collections) at Trinity College Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Watkinson Finding Aids by an authorized administrator of Trinity College Digital Repository. 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 - Page 2- 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) ^ Return to Table of Contents 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 - Page 3- 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. ^ Return to Table of Contents 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. ^ Return to Table of Contents 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. ^ Return to Table of Contents Administrative Information Publication Statement Watkinson Library--Manuscript Collections Trinity College Library 300 Summit St. - Page 4- Ben Barber papersMS2017.001 Hartford, Connecticut 06106 Processing Information Processed by Jennifer Hayner ^ Return to Table of Contents 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 - Page 5- Ben Barber papersMS2017.001 Newsday. Included are feature pieces