The First Class of Fulbrighters - Fulbright-Kommission

Delbert Barley, 1989
Delbert Barley was born in Froid, Montana, in 1918 and then moved to Minnesota. He
received his B.A. from McPherson College in Kansas, 1935-39, and did post-graduate work at
Iowa State Teachers College, 1939-40. During WWII, Barley served as a smoke jumper in
Montana, and between 1946-48 he worked for Quakerhilfe in Danzig, Paris, and Freiburg.
Barley finished his graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, 1949-52, and lectured
at St. Joseph’s College and Muhlenburg College before his Fulbright year near Freiburg in
1953-54. In 1955 Barley became an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Ithaca College, NY,
where he was then awarded his Ph.D. He was a professor for sociology and political education at
the Evang. Seminar/Fachhochschule für Sozialarbeit, Freiburg, 1958-83; and an Associate
Professor of Sociology at State University of New York at Geneseo, 1966-67. Since his retirement
in 1983 Barley has lived in Vaucluse (Provence) and Waldbronn, Germany.
somehow not regarded as “real” expellees, and, as a matter of
fact, they had left more or less under cover of retreating German
troops, not literally driven from their homes. I met up
with a saying widely known in southern Germany: “Bis man
Wurst gesagt hat, hat der Preus’ sie schon gegessen.” 2 Little love
was lost for strangers from the North and East; they were all
Prussians.
IN BETWEEN INTERVIEWS, there were occasional
trips by bus to Freiburg, skiing of an unprofessional sort, a
bit of practice on the cello I had brought with me and making
music together with my wife and the wife of a teacher in
a nearby village. The couple lived in a tiny settlement with a
less tiny sawmill in a valley within walking distance from
St. Märgen. The teacher, who presided over the one-room
school, was a singer, a natural scientist, and a most interesting
character. We often enjoyed our visits with them, and
the hike to and from the village.
Christmas was celebrated in the strict family traditional
form. A large Tannenbaum was erected in one of the rooms,
decorated, and the Christmas gifts were arranged secretly by
our host. Each of the children of the host and Barley families
had a pile of packages. Christmas songs were sung, our host
accompanied on the guitar. It was solemn and impressive.
Sometime in late winter my wife and I went to Loccum
(Lower Saxony) to an Evangelische Akademie, where the integration
of expellees and refugees was being discussed. Dr.
Elisabeth Pfeil, a well-known sociologist, whose name was
familiar to me through her publications, was one of the
speakers. We heard her talk and were able to meet her. (Several
years later we invited her to speak at a Jubiläum-Year
celebration at the Seminar in Freiburg; she accepted, and
also accepted a personal invitation from us.) At the same
time, we came in contact with someone from Espelkamp
(Westfalia), a post-war settlement made up exclusively of
expellees and refugees. In Espelkamp was also an Aufbaugymnasium
for youth that had been unable to complete their
Abitur due to flight, primarily from the GDR. Since we were
pondering what we would do after the Fulbright year was
finished, the idea of a teaching position in the Gymnasium or
in the area presented itself.
After returning to St. Märgen from Loccum we pursued
the idea again of a position in Espelkamp. As a result we
moved to that settlement in May (1954). Our living quarters
consisted of a single room in
the dormitory complex; we
ate in the common dining
hall. We came into contact
with the director of the Gymnasium,
and came to know a
number of students, some of
whom had had dramatic
experiences with the GDR
authorities, including imprisonment
in Bautzen. 3
Although my wife was a
qualified teacher and might
very well have gotten a position,
it was important that I
return to Penn, complete
my dissertation and get my
Ph.D. before making any
26 27
Barley and his wife ski near their home
in St. Märgen.
final decisions that could block the way. It was a time of
indecision. Memorable about Espelkamp is the night during
which a man, probably drunk, approached our open window
at ground level and put his hands on the window sill in
preparation for entering. My wife heard something and
awakened me. The man could not see me, but I could clearly
see the contours of his head. I drew back in the dark, lurched
forward with all my strength and punched him in the face.
He fell grunting to the ground, picked himself up slowly,
and waddled away. When we told students about it the next
morning they wanted to know why I hadn’t gone out and
pursue him!
I returned to the U.S. on the United States in July 1954
in order to secure a position and a place to dwell. My wife
and the two children followed in December. All went well
and I received the Ph.D. with my dissertation: “The Integration
of Refugees and Expellees in a Rural Black Forest Community.”
Apart from libraries, it is to be seen in the
Stadtarchiv in Freiburg. The Fulbright year was an important
key to my professional life.
1) Roughly equivalent to a township 2) By the time you’ve said sausage, the
Prussian has already eaten it 3) A former East German prison, where many
political prisoners were kept.