Colonization & Penn State Abington: Indigeneity, Feminisms, and the Ogontz School for Young Ladies
Open Access
- Author:
- Jabbour, Delilah
- Area of Honors:
- Race and Ethnic Studies
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Boni Wozolek, Thesis Supervisor
David Ruth, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Penn State Abington
Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania
Indigenous Studies
Indigeneity
Chief Ogontz
Ogontz
Ogontz School for Young Ladies
Chestnut Street Female Seminary
Educational Curriculums
American Colonialism
Colonialism
European Colonialism
Feminism
Intersectionality
Intersectional Feminisms
Archival Research
United States
History
Public History
Archives
Critical Race Theory
Critical Pedagogy
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
Penn State University
Mascot
Jay Cooke
Abby Sutherland
Elkins Park
Ogontz Estate
American Indian
Native American
Race
Gender
Curriculum Studies
Settler Colonialism
Critical Feminist Theory
Critical Theory
Pedagogy
Colonization - Abstract:
- This thesis examines the cultural and sociohistorical contexts of American Colonialism in the curricula of the Ogontz School for Young Ladies, the previous usage of Penn State Abington campus. It argues that the formal, null, enacted, and hidden curricula of the Ogontz School played a vital role in teaching the homogeneous student population about the primarily white, imperialist culture that was prominent at that time in United States history (1850-1950). The main examination took place within the Ogontz Archive room, which, as of 2024, is located at Penn State University, Abington College’s library. These documents found within the Ogontz Archives detailed the curriculum, pedagogy, and everyday norms of the Ogontz School for Young Ladies, a prominent force in female private education at the time. Penn State Abington, formerly known as “Penn State Ogontz,” did not publicly consider histories of colonization as related to the title “Ogontz” or similar relationships with the School for Young Ladies. This thesis—paired with a panel discussion that includes Indigenous scholars and communities, scholars in the field of public history, and the surrounding Pennsylvanian community—is an examination of historical norms and values, the way such histories become the unquestioned tapestry of contemporary society, and how each generation might lend their critical interpretation of such histories in service of questions of inclusion, equity, and belonging.