Most of Dunn's war sketches are housed at the Smithsonian Institution in the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Dunn was born on a homestead farm near Manchester, South Dakota,[3] in the county made famous by Laura Ingalls Wilder's descriptions of prairie life.

There he also met William James Aylward and Ernest Peixotto, artists that would later accompany him in the United States Army American Expeditionary Force.

[6] In 1906, after two years with Pyle, Dunn established his own studio in Wilmington and immediately began a successful career as an illustrator.

[8] In 1914, Dunn moved east and settled in Leonia, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City and its publishing world.

The Smithsonian Institution notes it is a "quiet scene depicting a small group of cowboys seated on the ground beside a chuckwagon, their backs turned toward the viewer, their horses standing nearby, and a pond in the background.

[14] His comments were captured by a student during a five-hour class session and were published in 1934 in a slim volume titled An Evening in the Classroom.

His students included Dean Cornwell, James E. Allen, Harry Beckhoff, John Clymer, Mac Conner, Dan Content, Mario Cooper, Wilmot Emerton Heitland, Walt S. Louderback, Henry Clarence Pitz, Arthur Sarnoff, Mead Schaeffer, Harold Von Schmidt, Frank Street, and Saul Tepper.

[16] Dunn received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from the South Dakota State College in 1951.

[20] His name is memorialized by Harvey Dunn Elementary School, located in the eastern part of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.