Timothy A. Barber

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Barber is not a stranger to South Florida, for he is a native Miamian and was reared in the Miami-Dade County Public School System. He attended Arcola Lakes Elementary, Horace Mann Middle, and graduated from Miami Central Sr. High School in 1991. Barber attended and graduated from Bauder College formally located in Oakland Park, Florida in 1993 with a Specialized Associate of Science degree in electronic engineering technology. After working in the field of electronics for several years, he still had a desire to learn and do more in his career. In 1996, Barber entered Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee to further his academic career. It is at Florida A&M where his interest in history begin to take root and set the foundation to where he is today.

Already a trained musician and former member and Head Drum major of Miami Central Sr. High School’s Marching Rocket Band, Barber decided to tryout for the Florida A&M “Marching 100” upon his arrival to the university. Successfully making the band, he marched as a percussionist and eventually matriculated to rank sergeant by 1998. In 1999, Mr. Barber tried out and successfully made drum major in the university band. He concluded his service with the band as the head drum major in 2001 and 2002, a consecutive term honor that had not been accomplished in ten years. As Head Drum Major, Barber was in charge of the daily operations of managing 400 plus student members for four years. Job duties included show planning, hotel assignments, bus assignments, uniform management, tracking student grade point averages, scheduling and supervising sectional rehearsal, television and newspaper interviews, and field management. Barber’s was always viewed as an extension of the band staff to which he served graciously and owes a lot of his organization skills to. It is a cliché that the drum majors hold firm to that states, “if you can manage the “Marching 100” you can successfully run any Fortune 500 company”. Aside from those duties, he still had to coordinate and manage Band Camp and the eight other assistant drum majors below him to which he always applauds as the true credit to his success at the helm.

During his tenure in the university band, Barber managed his time well, balancing long hours of rehearsal and attending his classes. He earned his Bachelors of Arts degree in English with a minor in Education in 2002. Concluding his tenure at Florida A&M University by earning a Master degree in History in December of 2003. It was during his master theory work that he began engaging the late Professor James Eaton and Dr. Murrell Dawson at the South East Regional Black Archives on the campus of Florida A&M, there Barber was trained in archival management and administration by Dr. Dawson. Dr. Dawson introduced Barber to Dr. Dorothy J. Fields in Miami when he inquired about a Miami location to fulfill his semester internship requirement. In the fall of 2003, he began working at the Black Archives in Miami as an archivist intern. In 2004, Barber was hired as the assistant archivist at the Black Archives in Miami where he developed and performed many task learned as a trainee in archival management. In 2004 he attended and successfully completed The Georgia Archives and the Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education in conjunction with training at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 2006, Barber was promoted to Archivist and Curator at the Black Archives and it was also during this time that Barber was appointed to the City of Miami Historic and Environmental Preservation Board where is the past chair and currently presides as an active Board member. He has been an attendee, participant, and presenter at many national workshops on preservation, conservation, archiving, and museum administration such as the Institute of Museum and Library Science Connecting to Collections Symposium in Buffalo, NY; Association of African American Museums Conferences; Society of American Archivist Workshops; Preservation American Conference; Leadership Initiative for African American Museums in Birmingham, AL; Restore America and many, many, more.

Barber was appointed Executive Director of the Black Archives in August of 2009. He is extremely excited about the opportunity to serve the community in the capacity of Executive Director at the organization which he has served as a faithful employee for six years. As the Executive Director, Barber looks forward to working with the community and increasing the accessibility archives and programming at our historic venues including the Historic Lyric Theater Welcome Center Complex.

Since learning of the important works that Dr. Dorothy J. Fields, former and present Board of Directors, Trustees and friends of the archives have done for 30 plus years, it inspires him to pick up that mantle and continue on the path that “our ancestors have yet to tread.” Barber describes the organization as “being at the pinnacle of becoming one of the greatest cultural institution of the African Diaspora in the south and the pride of Miami-Dade County.” It is this vision of success that is the fuel for his motivation and he encourages people to rededicate themselves to mission of the Black Archives in preserving the history of black culture in South Florida from 1896 to the present!

As Director, Barber has successfully administered federal grants from the Institute of Museums and Library Services and local county grants. Recently under the guidance of Barber the Black Archives opened the Historic Ward Cultural Tourist Gallery through the City of Miami Community Redevelopment Agency. The Gallery showcases rotating exhibits highlighting the accomplishment of blacks in Miami. He has served as a grant reviewer for National public grants; Barber is affiliated with a variety of social, service, and civic organizations. He is a brother of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and a member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, Inc. He is a member of the Society of American Archivist and the Association of African American Museums. He has been an adjunct professor of history at Florida Memorial University. He is married to Mrs. Latonya Barber, a father of four Britnie, Dwaine, Jayla, and Ti’Mia and attends Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church where he serves as the Director of Music. He has been the primary researcher for the Black Archives Foundation and have authored and presented numerous investigative research projects for many clients nationwide. Through the archives he plans to help bring African-American history to the forefront of the American society in Miami-Dade and surrounding counties.

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