Donald E. Baker has long been fascinated by the story of Ku Klux Klan dominance of Indiana in the 1920’s, and two of his plays set in that era have been produced. "Trade With Klan," concerning choices and compromises forced on small-town Hoosiers by the Klan, was presented by Southwest Theatre Productions of Austin, Texas, January 17-February 20, 2020, and received enthusiastic reviews from Broadway World Austin and the Austin Chronicle. It has been published by Next Stage Press.

His play "Grand Dragon in Power," charting the downfall of the Klan political boss of Indiana, was given an online staged reading by Panglossian Productions of Williamsburg, Virginia, in November, 2020. A radio adaptation was performed before a live audience on March 26, 2018, by the Radio Theatre Project at the Studio@620 in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is available on Soundcloud.com.

Baker’s non-Klan plays include “My Brother Paul,” a play with music about the sibling rivalry between Theodore Dreiser and his brother Paul Dresser, a popular song writer and actor. He has also written a one-person play about a Civil War-era steamboat captain entitled “Web-Footed Dreams, or, Paddlewheels and Politics in Peace and War.” His freestanding monologues include "Intestate: A COVID-19 Monologue"; "Ice Box Cake and the Man from Lima," concerning racism in the 1950's; and "A Lynch Mob Foiled," based on a true incident from 1880.

Baker was born and raised in Indiana and earned graduate degrees in history and library science from Indiana University. He worked as a public librarian in Evansville, Indiana, and Cincinnati, Ohio, while writing or editing several books and articles on Midwestern history. He began writing plays after retiring with his husband to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.