David Prescott Barrows

Barrows graduated from Pomona College, in 1894, where he served as the founding editor of its newspaper, The Student Life.[4] He then got his Master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1895 in political science. He got his doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in anthropology from the University of Chicago, in 1897. During the summers between 1890 and 1899 he pursued research to get his Ph.D. with the thesis on "the Ethno-Botany of the Coahuilla Indians of Southern California", which was based on his interaction with the tribes of southern California and the Colorado Desert.[5]

Barrows as a Lieutenant Colonel c. 1922

Barrows taught history in the state normal school in San Diego. In 1900, he got an assignment as superintendent of schools for Manila by William Howard Taft, president of the Philippine Commission. His career in the Philippines was eventful as he was designated to the post of Chief of the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes of the Philippine Islands, and also reconnoitered many unknown areas in the Philippines. In 1903, as general superintendent of education for the Islands, he was instrumental in total reorganization of the educational system.[5] After his return from Philippines, he worked for the University of California, holding the post of professor of education and then Dean of the Graduate School, in 1910. In 1911, he became professor of political science, and in 1913, was the Dean of the Faculties.[5]

During the First World War, he served in various capacities as a member of the American Commission for Relief in Belgium, as a major of cavalry unit serving in the Philippines, and as an intelligence officer in the Philippines and Siberia with the American Expeditionary Forces. He served in the defense establishments till 1919. Even after he returned to the University of California, he continued to serve with the National Guard of the United States until 1937, when he reached the rank of major general. During the 1934 Maritime Strike in San Francisco, Barrows led the assault against the striking maritime workers who were seeking to gain union recognition and union hiring halls. Barrows also testified for the federal government in a September 1939 immigration trial in which the government sought to deport Longshore leader Harry Bridges.

From December 1919 to June 1923, Barrows was the elected president of the University of California. He traveled for one year to Africa, including visits to Timbuktu and Sudan. He returned from Africa in 1924 and held the post of chairman of the Department of Political Science and continued to teach till he retired in 1943. He wrote many syndicated articles for journals, newspapers, The World in Review, participated in radio talks, and also wrote many books on his experiences in Philippines and Africa. The book on his visit to Africa titled, "Berbers And Blacks: Impressions Of Morocco, Timbuktu And The Western Sudan" is very informative about Morocco and some of the important aspects narrated by him are explained in the next section.[5]

He described Marrakesh as Morocco's "strangest city", and wrote of it "The city lies some fifteen or twenty miles from the foot of the Atlas mountains, which here rise to their grandest proportions. The spectacle of the mountains is superb. Through the clear desert air the eye can follow the rugged contours of the range for great distances to the north and eastward. The winter snow mantle them with white, and the turquoise sky gives a setting for their grey rocks and gleaming caps that is of unrivaled beauty."[6] Barrows in his book "Berbers And Blacks: Impressions Of Morocco, Timbuktu And The Western Sudan" has extensively covered on his travel experience and findings traveling to Algeria and Morocco.[7]

His post-retirement activity also included public service, in various capacities, such as on the Board of Trustees of Mills College, the California State Commission on Rural Credit and Land Colonization, the East Bay Municipal Utility District, and the Board of Trustees of the California College in China Foundation. During the Second World War, as he was not eligible for active service, he was appointed as consultant to the Secretary of War and the Office of Strategic Services.

Barrows died at the age of 81 on September 5, 1954.[5]

Barrows' philosophy with regard to American imperialism has been described as a "humanitarian imperialism".[3] On the one hand, he adopted a paternalistic attitude toward non-white peoples, consistent with the "White Man's Burden" paradigm popular at the time.[3] However, he also held their perceived best interests at heart and sought to help them, setting him apart from the many American imperialists with exploitative goals, who he despised.[3] Barrows held the Coahuilla and other Native Americans in particular high regard; Rupert Costo later said that he was "closer to our hearts than any white man before or since".[3]

Barrows's papers can be found in the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley; his daughter Ella Hagar further added to the collections.[5]

He was the namesake of Barrows Hall on UC Berkeley's campus, which was built in 1964.[8] On November 18, 2020, the university announced that his name would be removed from the building, publishing a press release that characterized him as a racist colonizer.[9][10]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: David Prescott Barrows

• Barrows, David Prescott (2004). Berbers And Blacks: Impressions Of Morocco, Timbuktu And The Western Sudan. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 12–. ISBN 9781417917426. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
• Barrows, David Prescott (1926). History of the Philippines. Library of Alexandria. ISBN 978-1-4655-1686-2.

• Works by David P. Barrows at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about David Prescott Barrows at Internet Archive
• Works by David Prescott Barrows at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Finding Aid to the David P. Barrows papers, 1890-1954, The Bancroft Library