time for the 1976 bicentennial, the quilt won a blue ribbon at the 1976 Iowa State Fair. It was entered in the National Bicentennial Quilt Contest in Warren, Michigan, where it won an honorable mention. In 1999, Barton's work as a quilter was nationally recognized when her "Heritage Quilt" was chosen as one of the 100 Best American Quilts of the 20th century. The choice of quilts was adjudicated by the Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, the International Quilt Festival, Quiltmaker magazine and McCall's Quilting. This resulted in publication of a book, an exhibition at the 2000 International Quilt Festival, and a PBS documentary film. Philanthropy Mary Barton's activities as a collector and philanthropist were inspired in part by her concern that the crafts heritage of Iowa should be preserved in Iowa. As early as the 1970s, she began donating quilts from her collection to organizations in Iowa. Barton donated hundreds of quilts to the Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa; Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa; the State Historical Society of Iowa; and the Farm House Museum on the campus of Iowa State University. Her "Heritage Quilt", along with 67 quilts and quilt tops and 1500 other items, was donated to the State Historical Museum of Iowa between 1987 and 2001. This donation became the basis of the exhibit Patterns for learning: Selections from the Mary Barton Collection in 1993. A similarly named exhibit was presented in 2007–2008. As of 2009, many items from her collections were included in the Quilt Index. Mary Barton left her extensive collection of fashion illustrations and related materials, organized by year from 1776–2008, to the Iowa State University Archives. Part of her collection was donated in 1988, the rest in 1995. References External links 1917 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American women Quilters