Thomas Emil Barth was born on September 1, 1937, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Henrietta (Steinmann) and Emil Barth. Thomas attended Pershing Elementary School and West Milwaukee High School. Thomas became interested in politics while in high school, with many of his papers and homework assignments revolving around current political events and influential political figures. Thomas graduated from high school on June 9th, 1955.

Upon graduating high school, Thomas enrolled at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. He received senior honors and a Bachelor of Science degree in June of 1959. He then attended the University of Wisconsin – Madison where he received his Master’s degree in political science in August 1960. A year later he became a fellow in political science at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and was awarded the LaFollette Scholarship.

In 1963 he began working as an instructor of political science at the Wisconsin State College at Eau Claire. While teaching and becoming involved in local politics, Thomas pursued his doctorate degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison which he received in June 1968. His doctoral thesis, “Perceptions and Acceptance of Supreme Court Decisions at the State and Local Level”, was published in the Journal of Public Law the same year. In 1969 the book “Law and Order in a Democratic Society”, which Thomas co-edited with Marvin R. Summers, was printed by Charles E. Merrill Publisher.

By the time Thomas received his Ph.D. he was a member of the American Political Science Association, the Midwest Political Science Association, the Law and Society Association, and the Association of Wisconsin State University Faculties. In 1968, he became an assistant professor at the Wisconsin State University at Eau Claire (the name of the college was changed in 1964).

While working at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire from 1963-1997, Thomas stayed involved with local politics. In 1972, he helped the reapportionment committee of Eau Claire with plans to redistrict the city for elections and later served as the Eau Claire County Democratic Party chairman for a number of years. “Under his leadership, membership increased dramatically and the party enjoyed significant success in local elections”. In 1976, Thomas ran for Eau Claire County Supervisor and the following year for City Council. While he was unsuccessful in both elections, Thomas continued to remain active in political life. Thomas was “instrumental in organizing the local chapter of the ACLU” (American Civil Liberties Union) “and served as the first chair of that organization”.

While teaching at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, Thomas also stayed very active on campus. By 1977, he had been a member of the Faculty Senate for four years, two of which he had spent serving as the chairman. He had also served on numerous curriculum and program committees. During the 1991-1992 academic year he served as the chair of the Political Science Department and also spent several years advising pre-law students. He retired in 1997.

Thomas took an interest in judicial process, legislative behavior, and public law including researching the dynamics of civil liberties, political parties, Constitutional law, Supreme Court decisions, crime, police practices, and state and national legislative enactments. His collection contains records on Vietnam War protests on campus and around the country, protests to introducing the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) program to campus, and newspaper clippings from some of the other major events on campus from the 1960s through the 1990s. After retiring, Thomas closely followed the LGBTQ political movement, mainly surrounding debates over gay marriage laws at the federal level, keeping numerous newspaper articles and opinion quotations from roughly 2000 through 2008.

Thomas Barth passed away on September 10, 2010, at the age of 73 years.