Mary Kathryn Nagle Explained

Mary Kathryn Nagle
Birth Place:Oklahoma City
Occupation:Lawyer, Playwright
Alma Mater:Georgetown University,
Tulane University
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Mary Kathryn Nagle is a playwright and an attorney specializing in tribal sovereignty of Native nations and peoples. She was born in Oklahoma City, OK, and is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.[1] She previously served as the executive director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP) from 2015 to 2019.[2]

Education and career

Mary Kathryn Nagle received her bachelor's degree in Justice and Peace Studies from Georgetown University, and later received her degree in law from Tulane University Law School where she graduated summa cum laude. After graduating from law school, Nagle clerked for two federal judges at once in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, Senior Judge Joseph Bataillon, and Chief Judge Laurie Smith Camp. The majority of her work in court involves fighting for the rights of Native people on and off of reservations.[3] One of the most prominent cases she litigated was Adoptive Couple v Baby Girl (also known as the Baby Veronica case) trial in 2013, held in the US Supreme Court. She wrote a brief which cited the ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) to keep a young Native girl from being taken away from her birth-father and being adopted by a white family. It was during law school that Nagle realized she wanted to advocate for Native rights as a playwright.[4]

Nagle is an alumna of the 2013 Emerging Writers Group, a prestigious program supported by The Public Theater for up-and-coming playwrights. During her time in the Emerging Writers Group she wrote Manahatta, a play that received recognition from the groups that give the William Soroyan Prize for Playwriting and the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award.[5] [6] Sliver of a Full Moon is one of her most successful works to date, having been performed at the Church Center of the United Nations and various law schools across the country, including Yale,[7] Harvard,[8] NYU,[9] and Stanford.[10] After being commissioned by the Arena Stage to write Sovereignty,[11] she became the first Native American playwright to ever have their work featured in the venue. Northwestern University Press will publish Sovereignty in 2020.[11]

Family

Nagle's grandmother, Frances Polson, was a Cherokee woman, and her grandfather, Dr. Patrick Sarsfield Nagle II, was an Irish man and the son of the leader of the Oklahoma Socialist Party. The couple were forced to elope from Oklahoma to Iowa because Patrick's family opposed the marriage.[12]

Her great-great-great grandfather was John Ridge, a Cherokee politician. Ridge's father, Major Ridge (Nagle's great-great-great-great grandfather), was also a Cherokee politician. They were both involved with the drafting of treaties with the United States in an attempt to protect Cherokee rights in the era of Indian removal.[12]

Her sister is the activist and writer Rebecca Nagle.[13]

Plays

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Developing Authenticity — TCG Circle. www.tcgcircle.org. 2016-12-17.
  2. Web site: Women's Voices Theater Festival - Play Detail . www.womensvoicestheaterfestival.org . 2018-04-01.
  3. News: Mary Kathryn Nagle - Pipestem Law. Pipestem Law. en-US. 2016-12-17.
  4. News: Native Voices On the American Stage: A Constitutional Crisis. HowlRound. December 17, 2016.
  5. Web site: Mary Kathryn Nagle Joins Yale to Lead Indigenous Performing Arts Program Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP). yipap.yale.edu. December 17, 2016.
  6. Web site: Powerplays Arena Stage. www.arenastage.org. 2016-12-17.
  7. Web site: Sliver of a Full Moon Production Packs Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) . Yale Group for the Study of Native America . ygsna.sites.yale.edu . 2018-05-09.
  8. News: Sliver of a Full Moon. 2015-09-10. Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. 2018-05-09. en.
  9. Web site: Sliver of a Full Moon NYU School of Law. its.law.nyu.edu. en. 2018-05-09.
  10. News: Sliver of a Full Moon – a play about VAWA and Native American Women Stanford Law School. School. Stanford Law. Stanford Law School. 2018-05-09. en.
  11. Web site: Staff Writer . Sovereignty: A Play . nupress.northwestern.edu . Northwestern University Press . 23 July 2019.
  12. News: Native Voices On the American Stage: A Constitutional Crisis. HowlRound. 2016-12-17.
  13. Web site: Rebecca Nagle—Journalist, Activist, Host . Humanities for the Public Good . 2024-05-19.
  14. Web site: Native Voices at the Autry: Past Performances . Autry Museum of the American West . 16 August 2017.
  15. Web site: Women's Voices Theater Festival - Play Detail. www.womensvoicestheaterfestival.org. 2018-04-01.
  16. Web site: Summit Spotlight: Mary Kathryn Nagle and Suzan Shown Harjo, 'Reclaiming One Star'. Denver Center for the Performing Arts. February 20, 2020. John Moore.
  17. Web site: On the Far End Centers the Story of Muscogee Leader Jean Chaudhuri. Washington City Paper. March 30, 2023. Jared Strange.

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