Solomon Barkin was born in New York City in 1902. He received his bachelor's degree from the College of the City of New York (CCNY) in 1928, and went on to receive his master's degree in economics from Columbia University the following year. He was an instructor at CCNY from 1928 to 1931. Among the posts he held in the 1930s were the Assistant Director of Research for the New York State Commission on Old Age Security, and the Assistant Director of the Labor Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration. From 1937 to 1963, Barkin served as Director of Research for the Textile Workers Organizing Committee (TWOC), and its successor, the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA). In 1963, Barkin left to become deputy to the director and head of the Social Affairs Division, Manpower and Social Affairs Directorate, of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in Paris. He returned to the United States in 1968, to join the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, as Professor of Economics and Research Associate of the Labor Center. He retired in 1978.
From the guide to the Solomon Barkin Papers FS 100., 1930-1989, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries)
From the guide to the Solomon Barkin Papers MS 217., 1930-1989, (Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst)
