History of FACS

"Father of Medicine"

400 BCE

In 400 B.C. the Greek physician Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine” said, “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” Hippocrates realized that food impacts a person’s health, body and mind to help prevent illness as well as maintain wellness.

Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford)

1753

Thompson developed a theory of the nutritional value of water and introduced soup as a staple diet. He experimented with many cheap foods for mass feeding of the poor, introduced the potato into Central Europe, and published a long essay containing many recipes for the preparation of hearty meals. He also invented many kitchen appliances that are still used today.

Catherine Beecher

1841

In 1841, Catherine Beecher wrote the first FACS textbook titled “A Treatise on Domestic Economy” which
demonstrated her beliefs about women’s central role as mothers and educators, raising the next generation of citizens and creating a sanctuary for their families within the home.

Morrill Act of 1862

Jul 2, 1862

The Morrill Act of 1862 was set up to allow institutions is each state that would educate people in agriculture, home economics, and mechanical arts. Justin Smith Morrill wanted education to be available to people in all social classes. However, when it was first put into place, there was a separation of races, and blacks were not allowed to attend the schools.

Land Grant Universities

1890

The Land Grant University came about due to the Morrill Act of 1862. It gave states public lands as long as the lands were sold or used for profit and the proceeds were used to establish colleges that would teach agriculture and the mechanical arts.

Ellen Swallow Richards

1893

Ellen represented Massachusetts at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago with a demonstration kitchen that sold healthy food and distributed info about nutrition and low-cost cooking. She was the first woman graduate of MIT, the first woman accepted to a school of Science or Technology in the US, the first woman to earn a degree in chemistry in the US, and the first woman instructor at MIT. She opened the first health food restaurant in the country.

W.O. Atwater

1897

He invented and used the respiration calorimeter to measure precisely the energy provided by food and created a system to measure that energy in units, known as food calories. He is know as the Father of Nutrition.

First Lake Placid Conference

1899

11 people attended the first conference. The name "home economics" was adopted for this new field. Ten
annual Lake Placid Conferences were held before the national organization, the American Home Economics Association (AHEA) emerged in 1909. The new organization was chartered on January 1, 1910.

Land Grant University in Arkansas

Jan 22, 1899

The University of Arkansas systems became the state land-grant institution and first state-assisted college in Arkansas.

Martha Rensselaer

1907

Rensselaer offered home economics courses at Cornell University in 1907 and helped to transform the department of Home Economics to the School of Home Economics in 1919.

Smith Lever Act of 1914

May 8, 1914

This Act established a national Cooperative Extension Service that extended outreach programs through land-grant universities to educate rural Americans about advances in agricultural practices and technology. These new advances helped to increase agricultural productivity.

Smith Hughes Act of 1917

1917

This Act created the Federal Board for Vocational Education for training in agriculture, trades and industries, commerce, and home economics. It required that state boards submit their plans for vocational education to the board for approval and provided federal aid to the states.

AHEA symbol adopted

1926

In 1926, the American Home Economics Association adopted the Betty Lamp as a symbol for the association. The lamp derived its name from the German word "besser" or "bête", meaning "to make better."

George Deen Act of 1936

1936

George Deen Act of 1936 provided the first federal aid for vocational training of workers and sales personnel.

The Vocational Act of 1963

1963

This act was implemented by President John F. Kennedy and required all U.S. states to set up detailed plans and reports if they want to qualify for specific federal education funds. It allowed the advisory board to make recommendations about existing vocational education programs. It replaced the Smith-Hughes Act.

Vocational Amendment of 1968

Oct 3, 1968

This amendment came about when it was realized that people were exiting high school with no knowledge to enter the workforce. It authorized funds to aid states in establishing vocational education programs in local high schools. It expanded federal aid for vocational education set by a 1963 law to better prepare the community for the fast-changing U.S. job market.

Vocational Amendment of 1973

1973

This amendment was put in place to address the problem of discrimination against people with disabilities in the U.S. It stated that private employers with federal contracts over $2,500 must take action to hire individuals with a mental or physical disability, and provide vocational counseling, training assistance and job placement for individuals with severe disabilities.

Vocational Amendment of 1976

1976

The purpose of this amendment was to overcome sex discrimination, develop special appropriations for the disadvantaged, and run program evaluations every five years to maintain and develop new programs.

Carl Perkins Act

1984

This act was put in place to increase the quality of technical education within the United States to benefit the economy. It changed the term from "vocational education" to "career and technical education."

Name change

1993

In 1993, modern home economists changed the name of the AHEA to the American Association of Family and Consumer Science (AAFCS).