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© 2013 University of Chicago Library
The collection is open for research. Oversize Folders 1-2 of Series III are located in oversize map drawers.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Barrows, Harlan H. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
Harlan H. Barrows (b. April 15, 1877, d. May 15, 1960) was an important figure in the early development of the academic discipline of geography in the United States. As a university professor and government consultant, Barrows played a leading role in the developing fields of historical geography and the conservation of the environment and natural resources. Born in Armada, Michigan, Barrows gained experience teaching in Michigan at both the Ferris Institute and the Michigan State Normal College, Ypsilanti.
Barrows came to the University of Chicago at the beginning of the twentieth century as the Department of Geography was being formed under the direction of Rollin D. Salisbury. This was to be the first full, independent Geography Department of any United States university and the only one for about twenty years afterward. In 1903, Barrows earned a Bachelor's degree in geology and worked as a graduate assistant. He was appointed full professor in geography in 1914, and then chair of the department from 1919 until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1942.
Barrows' impressive and dynamic lectures garnered fame across the university campus, with his introductory course, "Historical Geography of the United States," becoming particularly famous. His courses became models for universities across the country, especially since he was a particularly influential mentor to budding geographers. Barrows was concerned with the development of the academic discipline of geography, and he co-wrote the college introductory textbook "The Elements of Geography" with Salisbury and W.S. Tower. He later also contributed to a series of elementary school textbooks on geography. As President of the Association of American Geographers, he made an address in 1922, "Geography as Human Ecology," that remained highly influential in proposing to consolidate the discipline of geography and to supplant the misleading trend of environmental determinism. This influential shift in the development of the field is seen mostly in Barrows' teaching.
During World War I, government service in the United States War Trade Board gave Barrows significant experience in tackling practical human needs and proposing solutions through the application of geographical ideas to resource management and planning. His government service continued in 1933, when Barrows became a consultant in Washington, D.C. for various government agencies, mostly with the Department of the Interior. This included work in the Mississippi Valley Committee (1933-34), the Water Resources Committee (1935-1941), and the Northern Great Plains Committee (1938-1940). For many of his later years as department chair and even after retirement, Barrows served on numerous other planning and conservation committees, extending his influence outside the university.
Barrows died in Highland Park, Illinois in 1960.
The Harlan H. Barrows Papers are organized into three series: Series I: Research Notes and Course Material; Series II: Student Work and Papers; and Series III: Oversize. The collection contains Barrows' research and course notes, outlines, papers, reading lists, government reports, and bibliographic notecards; Barrows' students' research papers and course notes; and various maps, charts, and newspaper clippings. Materials with definite dates fall between 1880 to 1939, with the bulk of the material mainly dating from the 1910s to the 1930s. The majority of Barrows' notes are transcriptions of primary sources dating from the nineteenth century, however, and offer few clues to the actual dating of his note-taking. The collection primarily documents Barrows' influential teaching and the methodical research used to support his many course subjects and government work.
Series I, Research Notes and Course Material, contains mostly notes on a variety of American geographical and historical topics, a few photographs, several annotated maps, several news clippings, course outlines and reading lists, bibliographic notecards, and government committee research and reports.
Series II, Student Work and Papers, includes the research and term papers of several geography students, with some illustrated maps and charts, and the course notes and outlines taken by Edna Eisen, a student in Barrows' 1928 summer course.
Series III, Oversize, contains maps and associated charts and newspaper clippings. Maps included depict, among other topics, United States roads and exploration routes, population distribution, territory demarcations, Michigan state industry, and the city of Detroit. Of note are the two oversize maps, one with a colorful depiction of North American exploration routes, and the other, a personally dedicated population map of Metropolitan Detroit, signed by the cartographer Floyd A. Stilgenbauer.
This series contains Barrows' research and course notes, outlines, papers, reading lists, government reports, and bibliographic notecards. They have been grouped into nine subseries as follows:
Subseries 1: Course Notes and Reading List for "Historical Geography of the United States"
Subseries 2: General World, Marine, and American Geography Topics
Subseries 3: Colonial Settlements and the Fur Trade
Subseries 4: New England Settlement, Agriculture, Commerce, and Trade
Subseries 5: Geographical History of the West
Subseries 6: Geography of the Midwest and South, Inland Waterways and Railroads
Subseries 7: Assorted Notes
Subseries 8: Bibliographic Notecards
Subseries 9: Assorted Typescripts, Outlines, Reading Lists, and Government Reports
Subseries 1 includes course notes, outlines, and a reading list for Barrow's famous introductory course, "Geography 271: Historical Geography of the United States." Before 1922, the course was known as "Geography 16: Influence of Geography on American History". Materials are topically arranged according to course notes taken in 1928 by student Edna Eisen, located in Series II, Box 28, Folder 4. (A few topic chapters are missing.)
The next five subseries (Subseries 2-6) organize Barrows' notes according to topic, with folders arranged in alphabetical order by topic heading. Folders follow the order of each subseries' title headings, so that in Subseries 3, "colonial settlements" topics come before "fur trade"; in Subseries 4, the arrangement follows "New England settlement," "agriculture," "commerce," then "trade"; and Subseries 5 arranges folders from general topics of the region (alphabetically) to state-specific notes (alphabetically by state). Subseries 6 folders follow the order: general topics of the Midwest and South (alphabetically), notes on states (alphabetically), notes on "inland waterways," and lastly notes on "railroads."
Subseries 7 maintains a set of Barrows' notes as they were in their separate, original order, though many of the topics repeat those in earlier subseries. Subseries 8 contains bibliographic notecards in card file boxes. Finally, Subseries 9 arranges folders within the order of its title also: "typescripts," "outlines," and "reading lists," followed by "government reports" in chronological order
Besides the notes in Subseries 1, it is unclear whether Barrows' notes are intended for course teaching or research or both. A majority of notes are transcriptions of primary source materials, many from the nineteenth century, and thus dates given indicate the latest sources used, where available. These dates may offer an estimation of when notes could have been written.