Mary Zeiss Stange
Professor Emerita of Religion and Women’s Studies Mary Zeiss Stange, a feminist scholar-activist whose work crossed multiple boundaries — from gun rights and religion to ecology and anthropology — and who helped grow Skidmore’s programs in religion and gender studies, died July 7, 2024. She was 74.
Mary, an authority on cultural and social aspects of hunting, had retired to the Crazy Woman Bison Ranch in Montana that she ran with her husband Douglas C. Stange.
After joining the College’s faculty in 1990, Mary played an important role in the growth of religious studies and women’s and gender studies at Skidmore: Mary was Skidmore’s first interdisciplinary hire, its first tenure-line hire in religious studies, and the first faculty appointed to the newly formed Women’s Studies Program (now Gender Studies).
Many of the courses that she taught at Skidmore — Women, Religion, and Spirituality; Feminist Theologies; and Ecofeminism — intersected with both religious studies and women’s and gender studies.
“A dedicated advocate for students, both intellectually and personally, Mary worked tirelessly to put both academic programs on firm footing,” said Professor of Religious Studies Eliza Kent. “Interwoven with her work as a teacher and as a bison rancher in Montana, Mary’s scholarship focused on hunting and women, raising important questions about the intersection of values and politics, environmentalism and women’s issues.”
“We will forever miss Mary's wit, her fierce energy, and her insights from which we as a community have benefited so greatly.”
Born on July 5, 1950, in Hackensack, New Jersey, Mary majored in English at Syracuse University, where she went on to complete an M.A. and a Ph.D. in religion. She married Douglas in 1983.
Before joining Skidmore, she held positions at St. Lawrence University, Black Hills State University, Dana College, Montana State University at Billings, and Central Michigan University.
At Skidmore, Mary published widely for both scholarly and public audiences. Her books included “Woman the Hunter” (1999); “Gun Women: Firearms and Feminism in Contemporary America” (with Carol K. Oyster, 2000); and “Hard Grass: Life on the Crazy Woman Ranch” (2010), which explored the myths and realities of ranch life. As a public intellectual, she wrote dozens of columns on topics ranging from hunting and environmentalism to politics and gun control that appeared in USA Today, High Country News, the Los Angeles Times, Outdoor America, and many other publications.
After retiring from Skidmore in 2016, she unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for a seat in the Montana State Senate in 2018. She also continued her scholarship, publishing the book “Hunting: A Cultural History” (with Jan E. Dizard) with MIT Press in 2022.
A testament to Mary's commitment to students and enduring legacy at Skidmore, the Mary Zeiss Stange Award in Religion recognizes outstanding accomplishment by senior majors in the Department of Religious Studies.