Dee Brown (writer)
A librarian who reshaped the American narrative with a single, seismic book that told the story of western expansion from the Native perspective.
1908–2002 (age 94)·American writer·Birthday: February 29·The Greatest Generation
Biography
Dee Brown spent decades in the quiet halls of university libraries before his research erupted into the public consciousness. A professional librarian and historian, he was steeped in the primary documents of the American West. In 1970, he synthesized a lifetime of reading into 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,' a book that deliberately inverted the traditional cowboy-and-Indian saga. Using government records, treaties, and first-hand accounts, he chronicled the three-decade period of conquest from the viewpoint of the Lakota, Cheyenne, and other Plains nations. The book became an unexpected, monumental bestseller, landing on the New York Times list for over a year. It forced a generation of readers to confront a brutal history their textbooks had glossed over. Brown, a soft-spoken man from Arkansas, didn't consider himself a revolutionary; he was simply a storyteller who believed the silenced voices deserved to be heard.
The Greatest Generation
1901–1927
Grew up during the Depression, fought World War II, and built the postwar economic boom. Defined by shared sacrifice, institutional trust, and a belief that hard work and loyalty would be rewarded.
Dee was born in 1908, placing them squarely in The Greatest Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Dee Was Born
The biggest hits of 1908
Dee's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1908Born
Ford Model T goes into production
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1913Started school
The Federal Reserve is established
President: Woodrow Wilson
1921Became a teenager
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
1924Could drive
First Winter Olympics held in Chamonix, France
President: Calvin Coolidge"It Had to Be You" — Isham Jones
1926Could vote
Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket
President: Calvin Coolidge"Baby Face" — Jan Garber
1929Turned 21
Wall Street crashes, triggering the Great Depression
Gas: $0.21/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Singin' in the Rain" — Cliff EdwardsBest Picture: The Broadway Melody
1938Turned 30
Kristallnacht and the escalation toward WWII
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $2,850Min wage: $0.25/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Begin the Beguine" — Artie ShawBest Picture: You Can't Take It with You
1948Turned 40
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1958Turned 50
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1968Turned 60
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1978Turned 70
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1988Turned 80
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
2002Died at 94
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
Key Achievements
- Authored 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee' (1970), a landmark history that spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list.
- Wrote over 30 books on American history and the American West, both fiction and non-fiction.
- Served as a librarian for the United States Department of Agriculture and later at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- His work is widely credited with shifting popular and academic understanding of the 19th-century displacement of Native Americans.
Did You Know?
The title 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee' is taken from the final line of a poem by Stephen Vincent Benét.
He was a lifelong railroad enthusiast and wrote several books on the subject.
He began his writing career penning Western pulp novels under pseudonyms to supplement his librarian's income.
Despite the book's massive success, he continued working as a librarian for several years afterward.
“The treatment of the Indian tribes of the United States has been a national disgrace, and it is time that the American people faced up to it.”
