Allen Jennings Barthold was born August 6, 1900 in Philadelphia. He attended Bethlehem High School with Mildred Cleveland, whom he later married in 1927. They both graduated from B.H.S. in 1917. Barthold then attended Lehigh University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts on June 14, 1921. While at Lehigh he was also a member of the fraternity, Alpha Chi Rho. He was then an instructor of French and Spanish at Lehigh from 1921-22 and 1923-24. He also did graduate work and was a lecturer at LyceeBlaise Pascal, at Clermont-Ferrand, France from 1922-23. He then did graduate work and instructed at Yale University from 1924-39. He received his Ph.D. in 1931 from Yale and was an assistant Professor from 1936-39. He then returned to Lehigh University as head of the Department of Romance Languages in 1939. He remained a Professor at Lehigh until his retirement in 1961. From 1951-53 he was granted a two year leave of absence and traveled to the Dominican Republic where he served as Director of the Instituto Cultural Dominico-Americano.
From the description of Allen J. Barthold papers 1914-1984. 1914-1984. (Lehigh University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 301761705
