Jonah Leroy ("Doane") Robinson
1856-1946

Doane Robinson was secretary of the South Dakota State Historical Society from 1901 to 1926 and in 1945-1946. The Wisconsin native was a schoolteacher, lawyer, poet, and publisher before becoming South Dakota's state historian.

Besides editing and contributing to the Historical Collections for twenty-five years, Robinson wrote groundbreaking histories of South Dakota. He collected thousands of artifacts and books to form the basis of the State Historical Society's museum collection.

An ardent promoter of South Dakota, Robinson originated the idea of a national memorial on Mount Rushmore and advocated Missouri River development.

A more detailed profile is printed in Volume 21 Number 2 of South Dakota History, the journal of the South Dakota State Historical Society.