Marlene Blaney Longenecker (August 24, 1945 – December 25, 2014) was an American college professor and literary scholar. She was a member of the English department faculty at Ohio State University from 1972 to 2008, and director of the school's Center for Women's Studies. She was chair of the National Women's Studies Association from 1989 to 1991.

Marlene Longenecker
BornAugust 24, 1945
Santa Monica, California
DiedDecember 25, 2014
Redlands, California
Occupation(s)College professor, educator

Early life and education

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Marlene Blaney Longenecker was born in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of Quaker parents Scott Longenecker and Ethel Blaney Longenecker. Her mother was a social worker in Los Angeles.[1] Her maternal grandmother, Ethel Davis Blaney, was a screenwriter who married actor Keye Luke in 1942.[2]

Longenecker graduated from Arcadia High School in 1963.[3] She earned a bachelor's degree at the University of California at Riverside in 1967, and pursued further studies at the University at Buffalo, where she earned a PhD in 1973.[4] Her dissertation was titled "The Landscape of Home: Wordsworth and Melville".[5]

Career

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In 1972 Longenecker joined the English department at Ohio State University, where she specialized in British literature, especially Romantic poetry, and feminist theory and ecofeminism.[6][7][8] She was director of graduate studies and vice-chair of her department.[9] She was director of Ohio State's Center for Women's Studies from 1980 to 1986,[10] and in the role coordinated the 1983 meeting of the National Women's Studies Association at Columbus.[11] She retired in 2008.[4] She gave an oral history interview for the university archives in 2013.[12]

Longenecker was active in the civil rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s, and lived on a commune in British Columbia in 1970 and 1971. She worked as chief of staff for Dagmar Braun Celeste, wife of Ohio governor Dick Celeste, from 1986 to 1988.[4][13] Longenecker was chair of the National Women's Studies Association from 1989 to 1991.[14] As chair, she defended the NWSA's decisions and practices against charges of racism and bureaucracy, during the controversy surrounding the firing of Ruby Sales.[15][16]

Personal life

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Longenecker died from acute myeloid leukemia in 2014, at her home in Redlands, California.[4] Ohio State University has a Dr. Marlene B. Longenecker English Faculty Teaching and Leadership Award, named in her memory.

References

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  1. ^ "Ethel Longenecker Obituary". Orange County Register, via Legacy.com. April 7, 2004. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  2. ^ Hoffman, Steve (1973-11-20). "Keye Luke Believes in 'Kung Fu', Carradine, Memory". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 45. Retrieved 2022-04-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Local Graduates Honored in Special Section Today". Arcadia Tribune. 1963-06-09. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-04-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d "Marlene Blaney Longenecker Obituary". The Columbus Dispatch, via Legacy.com. December 31, 2014. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  5. ^ Longenecker, Marlene B. (1973). "The Landscape of Home: Wordsworth and Melville" (PhD dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo).
  6. ^ Longenecker, Marlene. "Captain Vere and the Form of Truth." Studies in Short fiction 14, no. 4 (1977): 337.
  7. ^ Longenecker, Marlene (1978). "The Paris Night Scene: An Introductory "Spot of Time"". The Wordsworth Circle. 9 (4): 347–348. doi:10.1086/TWC24041181. ISSN 0043-8006. JSTOR 24041181. S2CID 166189695.
  8. ^ Longenecker, Marlene (1997). "Women, Ecology, and the Environment: An Introduction". NWSA Journal. 9 (3): 1–17. ISSN 1040-0656. JSTOR 4316527.
  9. ^ Markels, Julian (2012). From Buchenwald to Havana. Evening Street Press. pp. 134–135. ISBN 978-1-937347-08-6.
  10. ^ ""Steebgate" · Anti-Rape Organizations and Protests at The Ohio State University - 1970s to Present". Reclaiming Our Histories. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  11. ^ Byard, Katie (1983-06-27). "Wrongs are cited in women's rights". The Akron Beacon Journal. p. 27. Retrieved 2022-04-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Hartmann, Susan (2013). "Interview of Marlene Longenecker". hdl:1811/65286. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ Celeste, Dagmar Braun (2002). We Can Do Together: Impressions of a Recovering Feminist First Lady. Kent State University Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-87338-718-7.
  14. ^ Past Presidents, National Women's Studies Association.
  15. ^ Longenecker, Marlene (1990). "NWSA CONFERENCE: Marlene Longenecker Responds". Off Our Backs. 20 (9): 24. ISSN 0030-0071. JSTOR 20833235.
  16. ^ Mooney, Carolyn (September 4, 1991). "Women's-Studies Association Struggling to Recover From Racial Tensions". The Chronicle of Higher Education.