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Harlan H. Barrows (April 15, 1877 – May 15, 1960) was an American geographer. He served as chair of the geography department at the University of Chicago from 1919 until 1942, then was named emeritus professor. He was elected president of the Association of American Geographers in 1922. Barrows played a significant role in the development of historical geography and environmental conservation.

Biography

Barrows was born in Armada, Michigan on April 15, 1877, the son of David H. Barrows and Lucy Elizabeth née Tenney. He graduated from Armada High School at the age of 14, then in 1896 from the Michigan State Normal School in Ypsilanti. Barrows taught history and geography at the Ferris Institute in Big Rapids, Michigan for five years. He was married to his first wife Janie E. Gleason on August 16, 1898. They would have one son, Robert Harlan. Barrows matriculated to University of Chicago where he graduated with a B.S. degree in 1903. He attended graduate school at the same institution during 1903–1906, studying in the newly-formed department of geography – the first in the nation.

During 1904–1907 he was an assistant in geology at the University of Chicago. Barrows was named an instructor in geology and geography in 1907, becoming an assistant professor in 1908, then an associate professor of geography in 1910. His course titled, The Historical Geography of the United States, would become a model for similar courses taught across the country. In 1912 he was awarded a Master of Pedagogy. His wife died on July 23, 1913, then his son in 1919. Barrows was named a professor in 1914. On September 4, 1915, Barrows married his second wife, Adda B. Weber. The couple would have two daughters: Dorothy Elizabeth and Jean. During World War I he served on the United States War Trade Board. In 1919 he was named chair for the University of Chicago department of geography.

During his career, Barrows co-wrote a series of textbooks on geography. In 1922 he was elected as president of the Association of American Geographers. His influential 1922 address to the association, Geography as Human Ecology, helped supplant the then-prevalent school of environmental determinism. Starting in 1933, he served as a consultant in Washington D.C. during the New Deal administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He worked on the Mississippi Valley Committee during 1933–1934, the Water Resources Committee in 1935–1941, and the Northern Great Plains Committee during 1938–1940. Barrows stepped down as chair of the University of Chicago geography department in 1942, then was named emeritus professor. He died at Highland Park, Illinois on May 15, 1960.

Bibliography

These are books authored (or co-authored) by Barrows:

• Barrows, Harlan Harland (1910), Geography of the Middle Illinois Valley, University of Illinois.
• Blackwelder, Eliot; Barrows, Harlan Harland (1911), Elements of Geology, American Book Company.
• Salisbury, Rollin D.; Barrows, Harlan Harland; Tower, Walter Sheldon (1912), Elements of Geography, H. Holt.
• Salisbury, Rollin D.; Barrows, Harlan Harland; Tower, Walter Sheldon (1913), Modern Geography for High Schools, H. Holt.
• Salisbury, Rollin D.; Barrows, Harlan Harland (1918), The Environment of Camp Grant, State Geological Survey.
• Barrows, Harlan H. (March 1923), "Geography as Human Ecology", Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 13 (1): 1–14, doi:10.2307/2560816, JSTOR 2560816.
• Barrows, Harlan Harland; Parker, Edith Putnam (1924), Geography Journeys in Distant Lands, California State Printing Department.
• Barrows, Harlan Harland; Parker, Edith Putnam (1925), Geography, United States and Canada, Silver, Burdett.
• Barrows, Harlan Harland; Parker, Edith Putnam; Parker, Margaret Terrell (1927), Geography, Europe and Asia, Silver, Burdett.
• Barrows, Harlan Harland (1954), Man in His World, An Elementary Geography Program, Gage.

References

1. ^ "Guide to the Harlan H. Barrows Papers circa 1880-1939", Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, The University of Chicago Library, 2013, retrieved 2024-03-04.
2. ^ Marquis, Albert Nelson; Leonard, John William, eds. (1926), Who's who in Chicago, vol. 4, A. N. Marquis & Company, p. 63.
3. ^ Colby, Charles C.; White, Gilbert F. (1961), "Harlan H. Barrows, 1877–1960", Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 51 (4): 395–400, doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1961.tb00389.x.
4. ^ Gonsalves, Danny (September 1969), The life and thought of Harlan H. Barrows (PDF), Southern Connecticut State University, retrieved 2024-03-06.
5. Boyer, J. W. (2011), "Teaching at a University of a Certain Sort", Education at the University of Chicago over the Past Century. Occasional Papers on Higher Education XXI (PDF), Chicago, Illinois: The College of the University of Chicago, retrieved 2024-03-07.
6. ^ Gilley, Jessey (2010), "Barrows, Harlan H. (1877–1960)", in Warf, Barney (ed.), Encyclopedia of Geography, SAGE Publications, p. 185, ISBN 9781452265179.
7. Reuss, Martin (1992), "Coping With Uncertainty: Social Scientists, Engineers, and Federal Water Resources Planning", Natural Resources Journal, Historical Analysis and Water Resources Development, 32 (1): 101–135, JSTOR 24884834, retrieved 2024-03-06.
8. Platt, Robert S. (January 1961), "Obituary: Harlan H. Barrows", Geographical Review, 51 (1), Taylor & Francis, Ltd.: 139–141, JSTOR 212493.

Further reading

• Harlan H. Barrows, Pine Mountain Settlement School, retrieved 2024-03-04.
• Koelsch, William A. (December 1969), "The Historical Geography of Harlan H. Barrows", Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 59 (4), Taylor & Francis, Ltd.: 632–651, doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1969.tb01804.x, JSTOR 2561831.
• Dikshit, R. D. (April 2018), "Geography as Human Ecology: the Contribution of Harlan H. Barrows", Geographical Thought, a Conceptual History of Ideas (2nd ed.), PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., p. 116, ISBN 9789387472389.

• 1877 births
• 1960 deaths
• People from Macomb County, Michigan
• American geographers
• University of Chicago alumni
• University of Chicago faculty
• Presidents of the American Association of Geographers