Charles W. Barr papers

Record Group

Identifier: UA-17.267

Staff Only

Scope and Content

The Charles W. Barr papers contain materials relating to the study and teaching of urban planning and landscape architecture. Included in the collection are lecture notes and course materials for courses that Barr taught at Michigan State University. Also included are papers and speeches that Barr and others presented at conferences as well as bibliographies. State and federal government reports, and materials from professional organizations, can also be found in the Barr papers. There are folders of manuscripts, some including correspondence, about Andrew Jackson Downing, other noted American landscape architects, and the history of the Detroit Zoological Park.

Dates

Creation: 1922 - 1999

Creator

Barr, Charles W. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Biographical Note

Charles Barr was born on October 19, 1906 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Robert and Myrtle Barr. He received a B.S. in Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts in 1929, a M. S. in Conservation from Michigan State College (now Michigan State Univerity) in 1939 and a Master’s of Community Planning from the Massacusettes Institute of Technology in 1949. Barr worked as a draftsman for the Long Island Park Commission in 1929 and then came to Michigan State as instructor of Landscape Architecture in January 1930. He was promoted to assistant professor and then full professor in June 1951.

He was married in 1933 to Mildred Davis. Barr traveled extensively during his life and served as a consultant to many towns. Barr retired from MSU in June of 1977. He died on June 25, 2000.