Allen Barnes was born June 12, 1926 in Newport, Nebraska. He attended Hastings College in Nebraska, graduating in 1948, went on to the University of Idaho, and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Madrid in 1952. After serving for several years at Chadron State College in Nebraska, Barnes accepted a position as the Executive Director of the Bi-national Institute in Tehran, Iran. He followed this position with work in a similar position in Concepcion, Chile. In 1961, he and his family moved to Brookings, South Dakota, where he was head of the Department of Foreign Languages at South Dakota State University [SDSU]. In 1967, he became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, a position he held until 1985. He was preceded as Dean by Frank G. Schultz, and was followed by Rex Myers.

While Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Barnes worked tirelessly to promote the college on the campus. He realized early on the problems inherent in being a non-practical arts and non-agricultural college in the university. He also worked hard to improve the facilities delegated to the various departments of the college. His strong push for a performing arts center is only one example of this. He also worked hard to advertise the credits of his faculty, both through his biannual reports on the college and through his "state of the college" speeches delivered annually.

Another long time crusade of Barnes was to improve the state of international relations/education on campus. He long promoted the study of foreign languages, and he felt strongly that foreign study was an essential part of education. In addition, he took an active role in helping foreign students on campus acclimatize and realize the full potential and extent of their education at SDSU and in Brookings. In 1985, Barnes left his position as Dean and returned to the Department of Foreign Language, where he taught until his full retirement in 1989. This collection was donated to the archives upon his retirement.