Merrill Gildea Burlingame was born in Boone, Iowa on March 13, 1901. He was the son of Nathan and Teresa Gildea Burlingame. He attended local schools prior to attending college at the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Iowa where he ultimately received his doctorate in history in 1936. Before joining the faculty of Montana State College in 1929 he taught history at various high schools in Minnesota and Nebraska. He married another historian, Virginia Struble of Davenport, Iowa, in 1936. She was the author of numerous children's short stories and books with environmental and historical themes.
Burlingame joined the faculty of Montana State College as a history professor in 1929. In 1935 he was appointed chairman of the history department. He was granted emeritus status in 1969. Burlingame was an active researcher who wrote numerous works on Montana history, among them two books relating to Montana State University's general history. The first, Montana State College 1893 to 1919: a preliminary sketch was published in 1943 in conjunction with the university's 50th anniversary. The second, A History, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, was published in 1968 to commemorate the university's 75th anniversary. Burlingame wrote other works relating to the university including The Danforth Chapel and Religious Activities at Montana State University, 1893–1991 and The Montana Cooperative Extension Service: A history, 1893–1974. Burlingame was instrumental in the establishment of the Museum of the Rockies with physician Caroline M. McGill, a Butte, Montana physician, who was a noted collector of Montana antiquities. Burlingame was appointed the first museum director in December 1959. He helped preserve the Montana-related records of the Works Progress AdministrationFederal Writers' Project. He was a founding member of the Gallatin County Historical Society and Pioneer Museum in 1977, which as of 2014 is located in the building housing the original Gallatin County jail.
Montana Historical Society
Burlingame was closely associated with the Montana Historical Society and considered a founder of , the society's quarterly journal. He sat on the society's Board of Trustees from 1949–1976, serving as president of the board from 1967–1969, and on the magazine's editorial board from its inception in 1950 until 1985.
