Dusenberry, Verne, 1906-1966

James Verne Dusenberry was born in Corning, Iowa, 7 Apr. 1906, and came to Montana as a small child. He received a bachelor's degree at Montana State College, Bozeman, in 1927; a master's at Missoula in 1956 and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Stockholm in 1962. He encountered the Pend d'Oreille and Flathead Indians as a businessman in 1935 in western Montana and had much personal contact with them. He later moved to Glendive, Mont., where he taught English at Dawson Junior College and where he was dean from 1945 to 1947. He was associated with the university system for fifteen years, first becoming an English instructor at MSC where he introduced courses in western Indian literature. He also served as Indian Specialist with the Cooperative Extension Service at the college. From 1951 to 1953 he was Visiting Professor of English at Northern Montana College in Havre. It was there he began compiling data on the little known Cree and Chippewa people on the nearby Rocky Boy's Reservation. He then returned to MSC but continued active research and efforts for the Association for American Indian Affairs. He was an early officer of the Montana Institute of Arts in Helena, and he taught anthropology at Missoula until securing a position as director of the Indian Studies Institute of the Glenbow Foundation, Calgary, Alta. Dusenberry died on 16 Dec. 1966.

From the description of Verne Dusenberry papers, ca. 1885-1966. (Montana State University Bozeman Library). WorldCat record id: 70924610

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