City People

The historian Gunther Barth was born January 10, 1925 in Duesseldorf, Germany. He came to the United States with his parents in 1951 and became a naturalized citizen in 1960. He earned a B.A. and M.A. degrees at the University of Oregon (1955 and 1957); and a Ph.D. at Harvard University (1962).

Barth has been teaching at the University of California at Berkeley since 1962. He became a professor there in 1971 and was a Fulbright professor at the University of Cologne in 1970-71. His professional memberships include the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians. He received the American Historical Association Pacific Coast Branch award in 1965 and a Guggenheim fellowship for 1968-69.

Barth has used his vast fund of historical knowledge to develop his area of expertise: the progression of cities in the United States. He has written two books with this theme: Instant Cities (1975) and City People (1980). City People, his best known work, has been compared to a Cecil B. De Mille spectacular in book form. He has also written All Quiet on the Yamhill (1959), Bitter Strength (1964), and Fleeting Moments: Nature and Culture in American History (1990), as well as numerous essays for periodicals and collections.

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