Dee Brown


 
 

Dorris Alexander Dee Brown (February 29, 1908 – December 12, 2002) was an American novelist and historian. His most famous work is Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, published in 1970, detailing the violent relationship between Native Americans and American expansionism. This work led to further appreciation of the Native American culture by the common American, and caused a new look at the history of the American west, from the Native American point of view.

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Born in Alberta, Louisiana, Brown grew up in Ouachita County, Arkansas and Little Rock, Arkansas, where he became friends with many Native Americans who made him realize that the portrayals of their people in American movies was not the true story. He worked as a reporter in Harrison, Arkansas, then became a teacher and librarian.

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He was a librarian for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1934 to 1942 and for the War Department after serving in the army in World War II. From 1948 to 1972, he was an agriculture librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he had gained a master's degree in library science and became professor. In 1973, he retired back in Arkansas and devoted his time to writing.

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When "Bury My Heart" was published, many readers assumed that he was of Indian heritage, but in fact he was not. He did however come from a family with deep frontier history.

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He had written several novels during his life, the first being Wave High the Banner, a fictionalized account of the life of Davy Crockett (who was an acquaintance of his great-grandfather). He wrote over a dozen books, including several for children, before Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee came out. Another popular work, Creek Mary's Blood, was a novel telling of several generations of a family descended from one Creek woman.

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Some people say that he depended too much on old (or new, persay) medical and hospital records and accounts for his novelations, but one thing is clear, the federal government watched his works closely. His period of library work also greatly influenced his writing, more so than is evidenced in his interviews.

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1908: 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar)....

December 12: December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 19 days remaining....

2002: 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:...


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~ Table of Content ~

Introduction
Sources
 
FR: Dee Brown


 

~ Related Subjects ~

December 12 (2) - Gregorian calendar (2) - Little Rock, Arkansas (1) - Ouachita County, Arkansas (1) - Alberta, Louisiana (1) - Harrison, Arkansas (1) - Common year starting on Tuesday (1) - Creek (1) - Davy Crockett (1) - 2002 (1) - Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1) - February 29 (1) - 1908 (1) - American (1) - American west (1) -
 

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