Sisters Magdalene: Entwined Histories of “Reform” at Good Shepherd Homes

In 1914, at least three young Indigenous women were sent from Carlisle to the Catholic House of the Good Shepherd in Reading, Pennsylvania, as punishment for various perceived behavioral infractions. Their experiences bear marked similarities and differences from the experiences of Irish women confined in Good Shepherd Magdalene laundries thousands of miles away across the world. The history of Magdalene laundries in Ireland is well-documented; Magdalene laundries also existed contemporaneously in the United States, but their existence is less widely known. Placing these entwined histories of forced confinement into conversation with one another, this chapter makes the case for expanding current understandings of the Native American boarding school system to encompass and accommodate institutions that do not neatly fit the definition of a “school.”