Nettie Garmer Barker

Born in 1882 and deceased in 1953, Nettie Garmer Barker was an American writer whose best-known book is Kansas Women in Literature, published in 1915. The book brings together short sketches of women writers associated with Kansas and shows a clear interest in preserving local literary culture for future readers.

Although not much widely documented biographical detail survives online, Barker's work has remained accessible through public-domain collections such as Project Gutenberg, Wikisource, and library catalogs. That continued availability has helped keep her name attached to an unusual and valuable record of women’s writing in Kansas at a time when many regional authors were easily overlooked.

Today, Barker is remembered less for a large body of books than for this focused contribution: a concise, historically useful celebration of women in literature from her state. For listeners interested in forgotten authors, regional history, or early efforts to document women’s achievements, her work still has quiet appeal.