James L. Barker

James Louis Barker (27 July 1880 – 29 May 1958) was an American historian and a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Barker's mother, the former Margaret Stalle, was a native of Italy, who was a Waldensian before she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1919, he was appointed head of the University of Utah's Modern Language Department, a position he held for almost three decades.

[6] After this David O. McKay gave Barker the assignment to work to reestablish the LDS Church in Italy.

[7] In September 1947, Barker and his wife accompanied Archibald F. Bennett and James M. Black on their three-week trip to the Piedmont Region of northern Italy in which they microfilmed records for the Genealogical Society of Utah.