Dorothy Medlin ’53 Legacy Gift Announced at Special Reception for Friends, Colleagues

Quick Facts

Dot Medlin, who passed away in July 2011, previously established the Dorothy M. Medlin Endowed Fund, in 2007.

Her estate gift contributed to the $400,000 fund, which will support research, programming and archival activities in Ida Jane Dacus Library.

Dot Medlin

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Through a planned gift, languages professor Dorothy “Dot” Medlin ’53 has ensured that her passion for French literary and philosophy history will continue.

Medlin, who passed away in July 2011, previously established the Dorothy M. Medlin Endowed Fund, in 2007. In addition, her estate gift contributed to the $400,000 fund, which will support research, programming and archival activities in Ida Jane Dacus Library. Medlin’s friends and Winthrop colleagues gathered recently to honor her memory and celebrate her gift at a special reception held in the Macfeat House.

The Dorothy M. Medlin Endowed Fund, maintained by the Winthrop Foundation, supports preservation of the works and writings of several prominent 17th- and 18th-century European philosophers, including Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert, Baron d'Holbach, David Hume, André Morellet and Voltaire. The fund also supports ongoing research in French literary and philosophy history through seminars, addresses and lectures.

Mark Herring, dean of Dacus Library, said he believes Medlin’s gift is “a testament of her indefatigable love of both Winthrop and Dacus.”

“From her work establishing the Friends of Dacus to this, her final and lasting gift, Dot Medlin will not only be remembered by her friends and family today, but also by countless others in generations to come who will know her only by name,” he said. Herring added that the endowed fund will “rightly continue in perpetuity her tireless generosity of giving back to the institution she loved.”

Currently, the Louise Pettus Archives of Dacus Library are home to an extensive collection of Medlin’s professional research into the life André Morellet, a French economist and writer.

Medlin, born Sept. 21, 1931, earned her B.A. in English at Winthrop and her Ph. D. at Tulane University in New Orleans, La. She taught in Concord and Charlotte, N.C., public schools before joining Winthrop’s Department of Modern and Classical Language (now the Department of World Languages and Culture) in 1967, where she was named Distinguished Professor in 1985. A renowned scholar of the history of French literature and philosophy, she published a book, The Verbal Art of Jean-François Regnard (1966); authored numerous articles about Morellet; and co-edited and revised a variety of anthologies and collections.

To make a gift, contact the Office of Development at 803/323-2150.

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