Marilyn Barber

Marilyn Barber is an Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of History at Carleton University. She holds degrees from Queen’s University (B.A., M.A.) and a Ph.D. from the University of London. Her research focuses on Canadian immigration history, particularly the experiences of English immigrants post-1945, women’s and gender history, and oral history methodologies. She co-authored the seminal work Invisible Immigrants: The English in Canada since 1945 (2015) with Dr. Murray Watson, stemming from collaborative teaching and research in Carleton’s public history program.

Her work also explores 19th- and 20th-century immigrant domestic servants, examining their labor conditions, migration policies, and oral narratives. She has investigated the Anglican Church’s role in sending British teachers to western Canadian rural schools and its impact on colonial educational systems. Current research includes a transnational project on migration and mental health with Prof. Marjory Harper of Aberdeen University, analyzing historical links between immigration and psychological well-being.

Barber has supervised numerous graduate theses on topics ranging from Ukrainian community formation in Sudbury to early 20th-century labor migration from Russia. Despite retiring from full-time teaching, she remains active in academic collaboration and publishing, maintaining a focus on underrepresented histories of migration, gender, and cultural adaptation.