How a Love for Lifelong Learning Inspired a Half Century of Giving

Step inside the William H. Hannon Library and you'll find yourself in the company of English majors and engineers; computer science students and emerging entrepreneurs; dancers and actors; theologians and linguists … In short, the library is a place where almost every LMU student will find themselves at some point during their academic career.

From the perspective of Robert and Jean Brazelton, P '83, P '88, P '91 (those names will be familiar to anyone who has checked out a book at the circulation desk), a gift to the library was a way of giving to the whole university. The fulfillment of a $500,000 bequest to the library marks over 50 years of generosity to LMU; Robert Brazelton '52, M.A. '56, J.D. '58, who has given more than 100 times since 1960, with allocations painting a picture of the university he loved - from baseball, to crew, to the LLS Juris Fund.

The bequest to the library was perhaps the most personal - a way of expressing the commitment to lifelong learning he shared with Jean throughout their 60-year marriage. Along with raising six children - four of whom attended LMU - Jean worked as an English teacher, volunteered at the Downey City Library, and was part of a book club of erudite women, many of whom held master's degrees and doctorates.

"My mother was the one who introduced literature as a guiding force in our lives," reflects Kevin Brazelton '88, who followed in his mother's footsteps to become an English teacher. "I remember the summer of my senior year, when I was assigned to read Shakespeare's "Macbeth." My mother was always thinking up ways to make reading fun, and each day I would gather with my siblings to enact a dramatic reading of the play. Those readings bonded us as a family and shaped my values as a teacher."

Katie Brazelton MacFarlane '91, also a teacher, shares her brother's fond memories of turning words on a page into drama for the stage. She also pursued a career as a teacher and recalls how her mother - ever ambitious - brought the Great Books program into her elementary school, introducing students between third and eighth grade to the rigors of Greek philosophy and the European classics. "She also trained dozens of parents to become involved," Katie recalls. "Socratic dialogue became part of how we were taught - just like those hours reading "Macbeth" on the patio, it was a way of making learning interactive and engaging."

Robert Brazelton had taught history before becoming a lawyer, and the couple's intellectual connection was central to their life together. "The two of them could sit and talk for hours about an article in the paper, or a book they had read, or an evening class they had taken together," said Katie. "My father had deep respect for my mother's intellect, and he was wholly supportive of the way she encouraged us to read, write, and think critically."

That passion for learning will live on - carried forward by the curiosity of generations of LMU students. Librarians are in the process of strategizing the highest-impact use of the funds; gifts of this magnitude are an opportunity to fund landmark projects that wouldn't otherwise be possible with the annual university budget. "Our library is unique in the access that we provide students to work with archival resources," said Kristine Brancolini, dean of the William H. Hannon Library. "We make these collections available to students as well as researchers, and we work with faculty members who incorporate rare books and objects into their teaching."

A portion of the Brazelton bequest has been channeled towards a major project developing guidelines for the ethical conservation and management of another important gift: the Jim and Jeanne Pieper Collection of religious art objects that illuminate the various faith traditions from around the world. "It's a large and complex collection, more like something you would encounter in a museum," said Brancolini. "These were objects intended to be seen and used as part of religious ritual and everyday devotional practice. Likewise, it's important to us that our collections can be accessed and engaged with, not simply owned."

It's an ethos wholly in keeping with Jean Brazelton's approach to learning as participation - whether reading "Macbeth" with her children, holding college essay writing workshops at Downey City Library, or introducing elementary school children to literature that has survived millennia. As any storyteller knows, a legacy that lasts is not fixed, but living; renewed by every mind it inspires.

If you're interested in learning more about leaving a legacy to LMU, contact Bonnie Hayden, Esq., at 310.338.2920 or [email protected]. To support the William H. Hannon Library and its programs, you may make a gift here.