Julius A. Barr (1905-1939) was born in Normal, Illinois and spent time as a personal pilot to Chinese military figures Zhang Xueliang (also known as the "Young Marshal" and "Peter Chang") and General Chiang Kai-shek in the mid-1930s. The collection contains a photograph album with three hundred and thirty-nine (339) black-and-white photographs, most likely taken by Barr, covering his time in China.