He was instrumental in the founding of the Museum of the Rockies and driving force behind the resurgence of the Montana Historical Society in the 1960s.

[2] Before joining the faculty of Montana State College in 1929 he taught history at various high schools in Minnesota and Nebraska.

The first, Montana State College 1893 to 1919: a preliminary sketch was published in 1943 in conjunction with the university's 50th anniversary.

He helped preserve the Montana-related records of the Works Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project.

[11] The Special Collections and Archives of the Montana State University Library are named after Burlingame.