Dee Brown Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS-0010

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The Dee Brown Papers consist of manuscript materials related to the 1956 novel Yellowhorse. The materials date from around 1956.

Dates

Creation: 1956, undated

Extent

0.56 Cubic Feet (2 archives boxes)

Scope and Contents

The Dee Brown Papers contain manuscript materials related to the 1956 novel Yellowhorse. Yellowhorse was Brown's second novel, and first to be set in the frontier west. It revolves around the defense of Fort Yellowhorse against the Sioux, and the use of the hot-air balloon Intrepid. In the introduction to the original paperback version, Brown notes that:

"This is Tom Easterwood's story of the Yellowhorse incident, with added details supplied by Chief Spotted Wolf in the last year of his life, and with some official data obtained from the dusty files of the old Army Balloon Corps."

Included in the collection are substantial handwritten research notes and draft pages, as well as the first typewritten draft, a copyedited version, and the galley proof for the novel. Two brief pieces of correspondence from Brown's publisher are included as well.

This collection will be of use to those studying the work of Dee Brown, those interested in different fictional perspectives of westward expansion, and those interested in the stages of writing and publishing a novel in the 1950s.

Biographical / Historical

Dorris Alexander “Dee” Brown was born on February 28, 1908, in Alberta, Louisiana. His father died when he was five and at a young age, his family, (mother, brother, two sisters) moved to the town of Stephens, where his mother became the postmaster. In 1924, the family moved to Little Rock, where Brown attended high school. After graduating from high school in 1927, Brown got a job as a printer for the Harrison Daily Times and became a journalist.

In 1928, realizing he did not know enough to be a reporter, Brown went to Arkansas State Teachers College (ASTC), now the University of Central Arkansas (UCA), in Conway, graduating in 1931 with a Bachelor of Arts and Education degree with a major in history.

He married Sally Stroud, of Wilson, Mississippi, in 1934; when they were both students at Arkansas. They had two children. Browne earned a BLS (Bachelor of Library Science) degree in 1935 from George Washington University and received a Master of Science in 1952, from the University of Illinois.

From 1948-1972, he was librarian of agriculture at the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Brown's grandmother remembered the California gold rush, had driven ox wagons, and could recall the Civil War in detail. She spiked his interest as a youth and consequently all of Brown's nineteen books are rooted in the American frontier. His best known work is Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a story of American westward expansion told from the perspective of Native Americans.

Brown's legacy includes an award in his name presented to an Arkansas historian in the early stages of his or her career whose work focuses on Indians, women, or other groups underrepresented in books about the American West.

Brown was a member of the American Library Association , Western Writers of America , and Organization of American Historians .

Dee Brown died on December 12, 2002, at the age of ninety-four at his home in Little Rock. A memorial service was held at the main library of the Central Arkansas Library System, which has a branch library in Little Rock named for Brown. His remains are interred in Urbana, Illinois.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright and other restrictions may apply to the materials in this collection. Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.