Preston Barba
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Preston Albert Barba (April 7, 1883 – April 11, 1971) was a major figure in 20th-century Pennsylvania German
linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...
,
folklore studies Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained curre ...
, and social history. He was born in
Hellertown, Pennsylvania Hellertown is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Its population was 6,132 at the 2020 census. Hellertown is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area ...
, and received degrees at
Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German patriarch of Luthe ...
(
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
1906),
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
(
M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
1907), and the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
(
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
1911). Barba taught at the University of Pennsylvania,
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...
, and, from 1921 to 1951 as professor and head of the Department of German Language and Literature at Muhlenberg. Barba married Eleanor Martin (March 29, 1893 – July 14, 1966), a professional artist who collaborated with him on many projects and publications. Barba wrote a popular section of ''
The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its ...
'' newspaper (S Pennsylvaanisch Deitsch Eck'', "The Pennsylvania German Corner") in the Pennsylvania German dialect from 1935 to 1969, and developed with Albert F. Buffington a standardized German-based orthography known as Buffington-Barba or Buffington-Barba-Beam in a later version. Its first major codification was in Buffington and Barba's 1954 ''A Pennsylvania German Grammar'' (rev. ed. 1965). A member of the German Reformed Church and later
United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...
, Barba also belonged to the Modern Language Association, the National Society of
Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose ...
, and the Goethe Society of America. He was a board member of the
Pennsylvania German Society The Pennsylvania German Society is a non-profit, educational organization dedicated to studying the Pennsylvania German people and their 330-year history in the United States and Canada. The Society works to preserve and promote the history, cultu ...
and the Pennsylvania German Folklore Society.


Works


The Life and Works of Friedrich Armand Strubberg
(1913)
Balduin Möllhausen: The German Cooper
(1914) *German Lyrics and Ballads from Klopstock to Modern Times (1925, 1937) *Lewis Miller: Pennsylvania German Folk Artist (1939) *Frederick Valentine Melsheimer, Father of American Entomology (1945) *Humorous Tales Told by Contemporary Pennsylvania Germans (1950) *(with Ann Hark) Pennsylvania Dutch Cookery (1950) *A Pennsylvania German Grammar (1954) *Pennsylvania German Tombstones: A Study in Folk Art (1954) *They Came to Emmaus (1959) *The Reichard Collection of Early Pennsylvania German Dialogues and Plays (1962) *(editor) Snow Hill Cloister (1968) *Four Pennsylvania German Studies (1970)


See also

* C. Richard Beam * Elsie Singmaster * Marion Dexter Learned *
Pennsylvania German Society The Pennsylvania German Society is a non-profit, educational organization dedicated to studying the Pennsylvania German people and their 330-year history in the United States and Canada. The Society works to preserve and promote the history, cultu ...


References


Sources

*Simon J. Bronner, Joshua R. Brown, ''Pennsylvania Germans: An Interpretive Encyclopedia'' (2017) *Earl C. Haag, ''A Pennsylvania German Anthology'' (1988)


External links


Grave
at Christ Union Cemetery,
Hellertown, Pennsylvania Hellertown is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Its population was 6,132 at the 2020 census. Hellertown is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area ...

‘S Pennsylvaanisch Deitsch Eck online
digitization by Richard Mammana in 2022 {{DEFAULTSORT:Barba, Preston A. 1883 births 1971 deaths American writers in Pennsylvania Dutch University of Pennsylvania alumni Yale University alumni Muhlenberg College alumni Pennsylvania lawyers American lexicographers Pennsylvania Dutch language German language in the United States 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century lexicographers