John Henry Barrows, Congregational clergyman and fifth President of Oberlin College, was born in Medina, Michigan in 1847 to John Manning (d. 1891) and Catherine (Moore) Barrows (d. 1893), Oberlin College graduates of the classes of 1838 and 1839. Barrows received his B.A. from Olivet College in 1867 and obtained theological training at Yale Divinity School (1867-68) and at Union Theological Seminary (1868-69). After a period of preaching and traveling in the United States and abroad, he enrolled at Andover Theological Seminary, graduating without a degree in 1875. He was ordained to the Congregational ministry on April 29, 1875 and married Sarah Eleanor Mole (1852-1940) on May 6.

From 1875 to 1881, Barrows held pastorates at the Eliot Church in Lawrence, Massachusetts and at the Maverick Church, East Boston. In 1881, he accepted a call to become the sixth pastor of Chicago's First Presbyterian Church, where he remained until 1896. At First Presbyterian, he developed a reputation as one of the foremost preachers of his time. He conducted popular Sunday evening services in Central Music Hall and spoke at temperance and missionary meetings. He was a favorite speaker before gatherings at Chautauqua, New York and served on the advisory council of the Chautauquan system.

Barrows gained widespread recognition in 1893 as President of the World's Parliament of Religions held in connection with the World's Columbian Exposition. The Parliament brought together representatives of the world's historic religions for the expression of their similarities and differences. Barrows' impressive leadership of the Parliament stimulated interest in ethnic religions and led to several publications by Barrows himself: The World's Parliament of Religions (1893), A World Pilgrimage (1897), Christianity, the World Religion (1897), and The Christian Conquest of Asia (1899). Barrows' other publications include Henry Ward Beecher, the Shakespeare of the Pulpit (1893) and Spiritual Forces in American History (1889).

In November 1898, following two years of lecturing in India and the Orient for the Haskell Foundation, Barrows was elected to the presidency of Oberlin College; he assumed office in January, 1899. His administration was capable though brief. During his three and one half-year term, the college added $600,000 to its endowment, Warner Gymnasium and Severance Chemical Laboratory were built, and Oberlin achieved new prominence in the world of higher education. The community of Oberlin was shocked by Barrows' premature death from pleuropneumonia on June 3, 1902.