Preston Albert Barba (April 7, 1883 – April 11, 1971) was a major figure in 20th-century Pennsylvania German

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

folklore studies Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

, and

social history Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. Historians who write social history are called social historians. Social history came to prominence in the 1960s, spreading f ...

. He was born in

Hellertown, Pennsylvania Hellertown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population was 6,131 at the 2020 census. Hellertown is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was ...

, and received degrees at

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German pat ...

( B.A. 1906),

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

( M.A. 1907), and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

( Ph.D. 1911). Barba taught at the University of Pennsylvania,

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, 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''. The newspaper is owned by Alden Global Capital ...

'' newspaper (S Pennsylvaanisch Deitsch Eck'', "The Pennsylvania German Corner") in the Pennsylvania German dialect from 1935 to 1969, and developed a standardized German-based orthography with Albert F. Buffington, 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 socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

, Barba also belonged to the

Modern Language Association The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "str ...

, the National Society of

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

, and the Goethe Society of America. He was a board member of the Pennsylvania German Society 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)

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,

‘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 Pennsylvania Dutch language German language in the United States 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lexicographers

Works

See also

References

Sources

External links