Charles Irving Barber (1887-1962) was born in DeKalb, Illinois. The following year his family moved to Knoxville where his father, George Franklin Barber, started an architectural practice. Charles Barber attended the Baker-Himel Preparatory School and traveled throughout Europe before studying architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. He married Marian Lawrence of Jefferson City, who died in 1949; his second wife was Blanche McKinney.

Charles Barber worked briefly for his father before establishing a practice with Dean Parmelee and then Ben McMurry, Sr. Barber and McMurry's most prominent public buildings in Knoxville included the Tennessee General Building, the YMCA, Holston Hills Country Club, and numerous buildings for the University of Tennessee, including Hoskins Library. They were also involved with projects at Maryville College and the greater Knoxville area. The firm also designed many apartment buildings, schools, and houses, including the John Craig, Earl Worsham, and Hugh Goforth houses, as well as Barber's own home. Barber and McMurry designed many churches throughout the Southeast, most notably the Church Street Methodist Church in collaboration with John Russell Pope of New York.

Charles Barber held various honorary and service positions throughout his career. For the Tennessee chapter of the American Institute of Architects, he served as Chairman of the Committee on Preservation, Vice-President, and ultimately President in 1936. He was the President of the Knoxville Technical Society in 1928 and served on the City Planning Commission from 1940 through the 1950s. He was a member of the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association and the Church Architecture Guild of America. He served as a consultant to the Tennessee Valley Authority beginning in 1933, and as their chief architect in 1935-36.