A. B. Barber
{{Short description|United States Army officer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Alvin Barton Barber
|birth_date= {{birth date|1883|5|19}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1961|9|16|1883|5|19}}
|birth_place= Portland, Oregon, US
|death_place=
|placeofburial= Arlington National Cemetery
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|image= Alvin Barton Barber.jpg
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flag|United States of America}}
|branch= 25px United States Army
|serviceyears= 1901–1920
|commands=
|unit=
|battles= World War I
|awards=
|laterwork=
|signature = Signature of Alvin Barton Barber (1883–1961).png
}}
Colonel Alvin Barton Barber (May 19, 1883 – September 16, 1961) headed the American Relief Administration in Poland from 1919 to 1922.{{cite news |title=Col. Barber Quits Poland. Terminates Services There and Starts for Home |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78040657/the-new-york-times/ |quote=Colonel A. B. Barber, technical adviser to the Repubiic of Poland for the last three years, who was appointed ... to undertake the mission for Poland, had wide experience to the American Relief Administration to handle ... |newspaper=The New York Times |page=31 |date=August 13, 1922 |access-date=2022-07-31 |via=Newspapers.com}} He then worked for the United States Chamber of Commerce from 1923 to 1948.
History
Alvin Barton Barber was born May 19, 1883, in Portland, Oregon, the son of Sumner Joseph and Ellen (née Barton) Barber.{{cite web|title=Alvin B. Barber, 1905|url=http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/Article/4343/|website=Memorial Articles|publisher=West Point Association of Graduates|access-date=9 November 2016}} He attended the United States Military Academy from June 11, 1901, to June 13, 1905, graduating 5th in his class. After graduation, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and assigned to the United States Army Corps of Engineers.{{cite book|last1=Cullum|first1=George Washington|title=Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.|date=1910|publisher=Houghton, Mifflin|page=748|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AYxEAQAAMAAJ|access-date=9 November 2016}} He was responsible for duties relating to military and public works in the United States and Philippines.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKoTEXgnclwC |title=Assembly |date=1962 |publisher=Association of Graduates, United States Military Academy |pages=62 |language=en}} In 1906 he assisted in the relief efforts after an earthquake in San Francisco.{{Cite web |title=Alvin Barton Barber, Colonel, United States Army |url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/abbarber.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331220326/https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/abbarber.htm |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |access-date=2020-07-26 |website=www.arlingtoncemetery.net}}
During World War I, from May to June 1917, he served with the Railway Commission in England and France. He served in various Headquarters and field units until January 31, 1919. From February through August 4, 1919, he was in Paris with the American Relief Administration,{{cite book|last1=Cullum|first1=George Washington|title=Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.|date=1920|publisher=Houghton, Mifflin|page=1156|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GLdJAQAAMAAJ|access-date=9 November 2016}} in charge of transportation and distribution, under the direction of Herbert Hoover.
From August 1919 to 1922, he was appointed chief of the European Technical Advisers Mission to Poland, and served as technical adviser to the Polish Minister of Railways in Warsaw, Poland. It was during this period, on January 26, 1920, that he resigned from the Army. His work during and after World War I brought him citations from the American Expeditionary Forces General Headquarters and decorations from the French, Finnish, and Polish governments.{{cite book|last1=Bane|first1=Suda Lorena|last2=Lutz|first2=Ralph Haswell|title=Organization of American Relief in Europe, 1918–1919|date=1943|publisher=Stanford University Press|page=229|isbn=978-0804702812|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQGjAAAAIAAJ|access-date=9 November 2016}}
Barber established a reputation as a transportation expert during his service in France and Poland, leading to his selection as manager of the Transportation and Communication Department of the United States Chamber of Commerce in 1923. He served in this position until retiring in 1948, he became a staff director on the National Security Resources Board and then a transportation consultant for the Office of Defense Mobilization until retiring in 1957.
Barber died on September 16, 1961, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgZiYXJiZXISAWEaAWI-/ Burial Detail: Barber, Alvin B] – ANC Explorer
Family
Barber married Lucy Clementine Lombardi on August 20, 1908, a marriage that lasted 53 years. They had three sons and a daughter who reached adult years. One of his sons, Cesar Lombardi Barber, married Elizabeth Duncan Putnam, the daughter of George R. Putnam, Commissioner of Lighthouses.
Bibliography
- {{cite book|title=Report of European technical advisers mission to Poland, 1919–1922|date=1923|publisher=De Vinne Press|location=New York|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b672263}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, A. B.}}
Category:United States Army colonels
Category:People of the American Relief Administration