page_title: Charles I. Barber
section_title: Early life and career
hierarchical_section_title: Charles I. Barber / Biography / Early life and career
caption_attribution_description: English: The Southern States Building at the National Conservation Exposition, held at Chilhowee Park in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, in 1913. This was one of the first major works by architect Charles I. Barber.
context_page_description: Charles Ives Barber was an American architect, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, and vicinity, during the first half of the 20th century. He was cofounder of the firm, Barber & McMurry, through which he designed or codesigned buildings such as the Church Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the General Building, and the Knoxville YMCA, as well as several campus buildings for the University of Tennessee and numerous elaborate houses in West Knoxville. Several buildings designed by Barber have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  The son of mail-order architect George Franklin Barber, Charles Barber studied at the University of Pennsylvania under Paul Cret, from whom he absorbed the Beaux-Arts style. For most of his career, he primarily designed houses and religious structures, though he also designed schools, clubhouses and courthouses. During the 1930s and 1940s, Barber designed several structures for federal entities such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Civilian Conservation Corps.
context_section_description: Barber was born in DeKalb, Illinois, in 1887, though his parents relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee, when he was about a year old.  He attended Knoxville's Baker-Himel School, and briefly attended the University of Tennessee.  In 1907, his father sent him on a tour of Greece and Italy, and sought his advice on the proper design of Italian villas, which he used to remodel the home of General Lawrence Tyson (now UT's Tyson Alumni House) that same year.
  In 1909, Barber enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania.  He studied under French-born architect Paul Cret, who was responsible for teaching the Beaux-Arts style to several notable architects in the early 20th century.  The Beaux-Arts style would characterize much of Barber's early work.  After receiving his Certificate of Proficiency in Architecture in 1911, he returned to Knoxville.  Barber's first major work was the Southern States Building, which he designed for the National Conservation Exposition in 1913.  During this same period, he formed a partnership with Dean Parmelee (son of his father's partner, Martin Parmelee) to design Knoxville's First Christian Church, which was completed in 1914.
caption: Southern States Building (1913)
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