Barr, Norman B. (Norman Burton), 1868-1943

Norman Burton Barr was born in Mount Palatine, IL, on January 27, 1868. He graduated from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary (now McCormick) in Chicago, in 1897. That same year he began his duties as pastor of the Olivet Presbyterian Church on Chicago's near north side. Under Barr's forty-year pastorate, Olivet Church undertook mammoth local missionary work, eventually operating a settlement house, library, medical dispensary, camp, supervised playground facilities, language classes, and even music lessons. As the work of Olivet expanded, Barr became not only pastor of the congregation but Superintendent of Olivet Institute and its wide array of social programs. He retired in 1937 but remained active in the Olivet work in an emeritus capacity.