A longtime professor at Indiana University South Bend has honored his mother with a $300,000 gift to the Franklin D. Schurz Library. The donation by Emeritus Professor of Music David Barton and his wife Evelyne establishes the Dorothy B. Barton Memorial Fund.
Dr. Barton taught music theory, composition and music history at IU South Bend for 34 years. Among his many accomplishments, he directed the Electronic Music Studio, and in 1988 he and Boyd Nutting formed PLATO & the Western Tradition, a post modern improvisation ensemble that presented multi-media events on campus and throughout the region.
The income from the gift will fund the archive of PLATO & the Western Tradition, along with the digitization and discovery of other recordings and scores from the IU South Bend Music Department. The Barton fund will also support the acquisitions of library materials to support teaching, learning and research.
She always wanted to be a librarian, said Barton of his mother who passed away in 2016. She instilled in us a love of books and reading.
Dorothy Barton was married to Everett Barton and had two sons, Everett Jr. and David. After the family moved to California in early 1960s, she started working part-time shelving books in a branch of the Los Angeles Public Library System. When David was in his senior year of high school, Dorothy began her coursework in library science at University of Southern California. After earning her Master’s degree in 1970, she worked as a librarian in the Los Angeles County Public Library System and later as a reference librarian at the Municipal Reference Library of the City of Los Angeles. During her retirement years, she volunteered at the California Museum of Photography in Riverside helping to catalog photographs. Dorothy also was an active and much-appreciated member of the Riverside County Friends of the Library organization.
In addition to his teaching and performing, David Barton was heavily involved in faculty governance at IU South Bend, serving twice as the President of the Academic Senate, multiple times on the Executive Committee, and on several Senate Committees. For many years, he chaired and served on the Library Affairs Committee and helped to build the Schurz Library’s strong music collection.
Barton’s wife Evie also has a powerful connection to libraries. For 17 years, she worked as a computer technician at the St. Joseph County Public Library. A talented singer-songwriter and dancer, she left her library position to open up a private music studio in downtown South Bend.
The donation goes toward IU South Bend’s goal of $35 million as part of the Indiana University For All Bicentennial Campaign.
