Verne Dusenberry was born on April 7, 1906, in Corning, Iowa. Shortly after his birth the Dusenberry family moved to Montana, where Verne Dusenberry grew up. After he had completed high school, he attended college at Montana State College in Bozeman, where in 1927 he received his Bachelor’s Degree.
When finished with college Verne Dusenberry became a businessman. While he was on one of his business trips to western Montana he encountered the Pend d’Oreille and Flathead Indians. Dusenberry became interested in these Indians and decided to move west to Glendive, Montana, to become an English teacher at Dawson Junior College, where he eventually became Dean from 1945-1947. Dusenberry then returned to Montana State College to teach English. While at Montana State, Dusenberry introduced courses in Western Indian Literature and also served as the Indian Specialist for the college.
From 1951-1953 Dusenberry was a Visiting Professor of English at Northern Montana College in Havre. This is when he started investigating the Cree and Chippewa Indians who live on the Rocky Boy’s Reservation. In 1953 he returned to Montana State, but continued his research and also worked for the Association for American Indian Affairs. In 1956 Dusenberry got his Master’s at the University of Montana at Missoula and in 1962 received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Stockholm in Sweden. After returning from Stockholm he taught anthropology at Missoula and was an officer at the Montana Institute of Arts. Dusenberry then became the director of the Indian Studies Institute of the Glenbow Foundation in Calgary, Alberta, where he worked until he died of cancer on December 16, 1966.
Dusenberry, Verne. The Rocky Boy Indians: Montana’s Displaced Persons. Helena, Montana: Montana Historical Society Press, 1954.
Former link, http://www.lib.montana.edu/collect/spcoll/findaid/85105.html. (2007) “Verne Dusenberry Papers, 1927-1966.” Montana State University Libraries University Archives, 1985: Online. Internet. 5 April. 2000.
Written by: Brad Bauer