A member of the Republican Party, Barber also served twelve years as mayor of Erie, Pennsylvania, as well as a city alderman and state secretary of welfare.

He resigned during the last year of his third term to become Secretary of Welfare under Governor James H. Duff in February 1947.

[1][2] He served on the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, the General State Authority, the Delaware River Port Authority, and the Pennsylvania Teachers Retirement Board and participated in more than twenty civic and fraternal organizations.

[3] Groomed as a GOP candidate for governor during the 1950s, Barber's political career ended when he underwent major surgery and left public service.

[3] A Roman Catholic of Irish-American heritage, Barber was married to Pauline Squires.