Barron, Elwyn Alfred, 1855-

Elwyn Alfred Barron was born in Lima, New York, in 1855. Educated at Robert College in Tennessee between 1868 and 1872, Barron worked at the Chicago Inter-Ocean in 1877. Until 1895 he was a drama critic and editorialist for this newspaper, which served as the primary source of news for the Midwestern and Western business community during this period. His work brought him into the orbit of many renowned American actors of the period; out of this experience he published an admiring biography of the actor Lawrence Barrett in 1889. In 1884, Barron married Harriet Lee Bird.

Barron also wrote plays, novels and poetry, including Robin Hood and Rosalind (1883, with A.S. Burt), A Moral Crime (1885, with fellow Chicago journalist Morgan Bates) and The Viking (1888). Barron's work was dramatic and favored historical settings. He was comfortable with both comedy and tragedy: Robin Hood and Rosalind, termed "a perfect piece of work," by one reviewer, closed with a wedding chorus, while The Viking, set in what Lawrence Barrett called "the weird and mystical North," ended somewhat less happily.

After leaving Chicago, Barron lived in Paris and London. There he collaborated with the English playwright Wilson Barrett; together they published the novel In Old New York in 1900. Between 1900 and 1916 Barron copyrighted 11 dramatic works. His romantic drama A Mountain Pink, again with Morgan Bates, was staged in Chicago in 1900. He also published Manders: A Tale of Paris (1899, 1900) and Marcel Levignet (1906).

From 1907 Barron lived and wrote in New York City. He died in 1929.

From the guide to the Barron, Elwyn A. Papers, 1877-1921, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)