Collier, John (1884–1968)

US social reformer and government official. Founder and head of the American Indian Defense Association (1923–33), he was an outspoken proponent of American Indians' rights. President Franklin Roosevelt appointed him commissioner of Indian Affairs 1933–45; he obtained passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which generally promoted more progressive policies for American Indians.

He was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He initially worked as a social worker with immigrants in New York City 1908–19. He taught at City College of New York 1947–54, and Knox College in Illinois 1955–56. He was president of the National Indian Institute 1945–50, one of the founders of the Inter-American Institute of the Indian in Mexico City in 1940, and organizer and president of the Institute of Ethnic Affairs in Washington, DC, 1947–68.He wrote several books, including Indians of the Americas (1947) and From Every Zenith (1963).