author
John Marshall Barker
1849–1928
A Methodist scholar and sociologist, he wrote about higher education, church history, and social reform at a time when American institutions were changing quickly. His books look at colleges, religion, and public life with the eye of a teacher and reform-minded observer.
1 Audiobook
Colleges in America
by John Marshall Barker
About the author
Born in 1849 and active as an American writer and educator, John Marshall Barker published several nonfiction works on education, religion, and society. His known books include Colleges in America (1894), History of Ohio Methodism: A Study in Social Science (1904), The Saloon Problem and Social Reform (1905), and The Social Gospel and the New Era (1919).
The surviving records found for his books describe him as holding a Ph.D., and The Saloon Problem and Social Reform identifies him as a professor of sociology in the School of Theology at Boston University. His work suggests a strong interest in the ways institutions shape everyday life, especially colleges, churches, and reform movements.
Barker's writing sits at the crossroads of scholarship and public concern. Rather than writing fiction or memoir, he focused on big social questions of his day, including American higher education, Methodism in Ohio, temperance, and the Social Gospel movement.