OSU student project celebrates life of Angie Debo
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Educational supplement is available to state teachers.
(Nov. 13, 2009, STILLWATER, Okla.) – An educational publication honoring the life
of American historian Angie Debo will be launched by political science students on
Friday, Nov. 20 at Murray Hall at Oklahoma State University.
The students will celebrate the completion of a semester-long project titled “Angie
Debo’s Oklahoma.”
The project is part of an Oklahoma politics class taught this fall by political science
Regents professor Bob Darcy and OSU President Burns Hargis. As part of the class the
students studied the life and work of Debo, a leading scholar of Indian and Oklahoma
history.
Okarche native Lauren Sturgeon, a senior majoring in political science, says prior
to the class she was not familiar with Debo’s work. “Now our class hopes that by doing
this project our state’s young people will understand the impact that Dr. Debo had
on the state of Oklahoma.” The project is geared toward fourth- and ninth-graders
enrolled in Oklahoma history classes.
To grasp Debo’s contributions, the students worked closely with several OSU experts
including an education professor, the library’s special collections staff and the
institutional diversity office.
Born in 1890, Debo came to Oklahoma in a covered wagon. She would go on to write many
books about Indian and Oklahoma history. Some of her work was controversial because
it noted that the five civilized Indian tribes of Oklahoma were not always treated
fairly. The state of Oklahoma recognized her achievements and inaugurated her into
the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1950 and the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 1984. Debo,
who spent most of her life in Marshall, Okla., died at 98 in Enid.
Her presence is felt throughout Stillwater. The Angie Debo Collection is housed in
Special Collections and University Archives at the OSU Library. The DEBO (Dynamic
Ecosystem Biodiversity Observatory) is named in honor of Debo who was a leading scholar
of the Oklahoma landscape. The Stillwater Public Library is erecting an outdoor life-sized
bronze statue of Debo.
Students participating in the project are Courtney Baker, political science sophomore,
Stillwater; John Caldwell, political science junior, Stillwater; Cordon Dekock, Enid;
Jenna Dickison, political science sophomore, Ponca City; William Gardner, political
science junior, Broken Arrow; Evan Hadaway, political science senior, Edmond; Kyle
Kassen, political science senior, Ponca City; Alicia Kirkpatrick, journalism sophomore,
Tulsa; David Linden, political science sophomore, Edmond; Robert Lyle, political science
senior, Perry; Hunter Owen, junior, Edmond; Michael Pierson, political science senior,
Stillwater.; Michele Reed-Ajir, political science junior, Noble; Sturgeon; Tanner
Sunderland, journalism senior, Woodward; Travis Tindell, journalism senior, Edmond;
and Marshall Tingler, history senior, Kingston.
“Angie Debo’s Oklahoma” will be distributed to 15,000 Oklahoma school children on
Nov. 18 and 19 by The Oklahoman. To learn more contact James Scott, professor and
head of political science, at james.scott@okstate.edu or (405) 744-5569.
The launch party is organized by the political science department at OSU, which is
one of 24 departments in the College of Arts and Sciences.