This series contains various general personal materials including those pertaining to Barker's homes, travel, life in South America, hunting and photography hobbies, education, and teaching career. Of particular interest is the typescript of an unpublished autobiography based on oral history interviews done for Columbia University in the 1950s. A keen observer and effective writer, Barker chronicles his career path, personal philosophies, travels, and colleagues in great detail. His behind-the-scenes views on MIT, Sears, and his Middle East missions make for a compelling look at the pre and post World War II world in which he lived. The series also contains diaries Barker kept of his daily life and travels, and materials pertaining to the Newcomen Society, an organization that championed American capitalism, material civilization and entrepreneurship. The society met with controversy in the 1940s due to questionable financial decisions, and Barker would resign from the society in 1951.