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James Louis Barker (27 July 1880 – 29 May 1958) was an American historian and amissionary forthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He was also an educator.
Barker's mother, the former Margaret Stalle, was a native of Italy, who was a Waldensian before she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[1] Barker received his early education in theWeber County (Utah) School District and theUniversity of Utah (B.A., 1901).[2] Barker then served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Swiss–AustrianMission of the LDS Church.[2] After his return from this mission in 1904, he began an extensive study of foreign languages in Europe. He studied at theSorbonne and theCatholic Institute in Paris.[2] He also studied at theUniversity of Marburg and at universities inGeneva andNeuchâtel. In 1907, Barker along with Joseph Evans prepared the second edition of the French language Book of Mormon by dividing the text of the first edition (1852) into chapters and verses and adding cross references to reflect the format of the English version of the Book of Mormon.[3][4]
In 1906, Barker married Kate Montgomery. After his return to the United States, he was hired as Principal of Weber Academy (nowWeber State University) and later as Chair ofBrigham Young University's fledgling language department. In 1919, he was appointed head of the University of Utah's Modern Language Department, a position he held for almost three decades.[2] He is the author of the bookApostasy from the Divine Church which is a scholarly account of what he viewed as the decline and fall of the Christian Church not too many years after the times of theearly Apostles. His book cites extensively from early historical sources, not all of which are documented because of his death before the publication of the book. The point of view is that of the LDS Church, but it is not an official church publication. The book was published by Barker's wife in 1959, then went out-of-print for a number of years, was re-published in 1985, and is again out-of-print.[citation needed]
In 1944, Barker was serving as thepresident of theArgentine Mission of the LDS Church. In this year he organized the firstbranch of the church inUruguay.[5] He continued to serve as president of the Argentine mission until 1944.[2]
From 1947 to 1950 Barker served as the president of the French Mission of the LDS Church. The mission included all ofFrance as well as French-speakingSwitzerland and theWalloon region ofBelgium.[2]
Barker also sentmissionaries intoItaly to try to contact church members there. In a talk in one of the 1951 General Conferences of the LDS Church Barker expressed a desire for missionaries of the LDS Church to soon share the gospel in Spain, Italy, Greece and other countries of the Mediterranean.[6] After thisDavid O. McKay gave Barker the assignment to work to reestablish the LDS Church in Italy. This effort was delayed by the death of Barker in a car accident in 1958.[7]
In September 1947, Barker and his wife accompaniedArchibald F. Bennett and James M. Black on their three-week trip to thePiedmont Region of northern Italy in which theymicrofilmed records for theGenealogical Society of Utah.
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