-
Catharine Beecher
On this day, Catharine Beecher was born. She was an American educator and author. She advocated for equality in education for women. She also wrote several books, including A Treatise on Domestic Economy. This book, published in 1841, was the first family and consumer sciences textbook recognized by the Department of Education. She passed away on May 12, 1878. -
Mary Welch
On this date, Mary Welch was born. She was an American educator and suffragist who created and headed the Department of Domestic Economy at Iowa State University from 1875 to 1883. This department was the first to offer domestic economy classes, a precursor to family and consumer sciences classes, for college credit. In addition, she also wrote a home economics book titled Mrs. Welch's Cookbook which was published in 1884. She passed away on January 2, 1923. -
Ellen Swallow Richards
On this date, Ellen Swallow Richards was born. She was a chemist and the founder of the family and consumer sciences field. She also was the first president of the American Home Economics Association, established in 1909, known today as the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. She was the first women to be admitted to MIT and pushed throughout her life for women to become involved in the science field. After a lifetime of advocacy and research, she passed away on March 30, 1911. -
Wilbur Olin Atwater
On this day, W.O. Atwater was born. He was a scientist who is credited with founding both agricultural chemistry and nutrition science. Throughout his life, he performed research in nutrition and how it affected the human body. In 1896, he constructed the Atwater-Rose calorimeter, the first bomb calorimeter, with E.B. Rosa, which allowed the caloric values of foods to be calculated for the first time. He passed away on September 2, 1907. -
Isabel Bevier
On this day, Isabel Bevier, author and educator, was born. In 1890, she became head of the home economics department at the University of Illinois where she established one of the first home economics laboratories. She also was the second president of the American Home Economics Association from 1910 to 1915 and advised on food conservation in Washington, D.C. during World War 1. She was the first to suggest using a thermometer in the cooking of meat. She passed away on March 17, 1942. -
Land Grant Universities
Land grant universities were first established in 1862. These universities were created to provide education in agriculture and industry. They also were required to include military training in their curriculum which led to the creation of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). Due to their more open admission policies, these universities allowed women, working-class students, and rural students to obtain an education at a low cost. These universities still exist to this day. -
Morrill Act 1862
The Morrill Act of 1862 established a way for states to create public universities. It allocated 30,000 acres of federal land to each state for the purpose of supporting education in the areas of agriculture and industry. The proceeds that each state received from selling this land as intended to be used to either support existing universities or to fund the creation of new land-grant universities. -
Land Grant Universities in Arkansas
The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville was established in 1871 as the Arkansas Industrial University by the Arkansas General Assembly, becoming the land-grant university for Arkansas. In 1873, a second campus was open in Pine Bluff and went on to also become a land-grant university under the second Morrill Act of 1890. These universities provided the opportunity to receive a high-quality university education at an affordable cost, furthering the education of many Arkansans. -
Hatch Act of 1887
The Hatch Act of 1887 provided federal funding for agricultural research at agricultural experiment stations. This included research on home economics and family life along with nutrition. This allowed for further experiments and research in the family and consumer sciences field to be carried out, advancing the knowledge of the field. -
The New England Kitchen Opens
The New England Kitchen was opened in Boston by Ellen Richards. It was designed to offer scientifically prepared, low-cost, nutritious food to working-class families in the area. The Kitchen also worked to educate these families on how the food was prepared. -
The New England Kitchen Opens
The New England Kitchen was opened in Boston by Ellen Richards. It was designed to offer scientifically prepared, low-cost, nutritious food to working-class families in the area. The Kitchen also worked to educate these families on how the food was prepared. -
Rumford Kitchen
The Rumford Kitchen was an exhibit created by Ellen Swallow for the Chicago's World Fair. It was located at the Massachusetts Pavilion at the World Fair in Chicago, Illinois. The exhibit was designed to demonstrate the then-current knowledge regarding nutrition, including how to properly prepare and cook nutritious food. All of the food cooked at the exhibit was sold in order to offset expenses. -
The First Lake Placid Meeting
The first Lake Placid meeting began on September 19th, 1899 and ended on September 25, 1899. This conference was organized by Ellen Richards and was attended by other experts in the just beginning home economics field. This would become an annual conference for the next ten years during which time the home economics field was named and the American Home Economics Association was established. -
Dr. Flemmie Pansy Kittrell
On this day, Dr. Kittrell was born. In 1938 at Cornell University, she became the first African American woman to receive her doctorate. She was the head of Howard University's home economics department from 1942 to 1972 during which time her research helped lead to the creation of the Head Start program. She also performed research internationally from 1947 to 1961 in a variety of countries, including in Liberia where she coined the term "hidden hunger". She passed away on October 3, 1980. -
Headquarters for Family and Consumer Sciences
The American Home Economics Association was first established in 1909. The first headquarters were located in Washington, D.C. Today, this organization is known as the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences, and the headquarters are now located in Alexandria, Virginia. It is the only professional organization that includes professionals from multiple family and consumer areas and disciplines. -
Smith-Lever Act of 1914
The Smith-Lever Act of 1914, the Cooperative Extension system was officially established. Under this act, land-grant universities provided research-based education to farmers in their state through programs and demonstrations by educators in each county under the guidance of the USDA. Later, this system expanded to include programs for women and children as well on topics such as nutrition, food preservation, and cooking. -
The American Dietetic Association is Founded
The American Dietetic Association was founded in 1917 in Cleveland, Ohio. It was originally founded by women who were focused on food conservation and the improvement of public health and nutrition during World War 1. In 2012, the organization changes it's name to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). Currently, the AND is still focused on its mission of improving the nutritional health of the public and furthering the field of dietetics. -
Smith-Hughes Act 1917
The Smith-Hughes Act, also known as the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act, provided federal funding to public schools across the country in order to support vocational education in the fields of agriculture, home economics, and the trades and industries. This was done in order to help prepare students for future employment and to encourage students to stay in school. In the end, this act laid down the foundation for what is known today as career and technical education. -
The American Home Economics Association adopts the Betty Lamp as a symbol
The Betty Lamp was submitted by Mildred Chamberlain as a symbol for the American Home Economics Association with the explanation being that the lamp had provided light for the household prior to the advent of electricity. This was compared against how the organization provided light for its members through its leadership and actions. This symbol was adopted and remains the symbol to this day. -
Vocational Education Act 1963
The Vocational Education Act of 1963 was a result of recommendations from a federal panel that examined vocational education across the country. It allowed for federal grants to be provided to public secondary schools for the use of maintaining, creating, and improving vocational education programs. These funds were not limited to specific vocational fields but rather were able to be used for all types of vocational education, thereby expanding upon pre-existing vocational education legislation. -
Vocational Amendment 1968
The Vocational Education Amendment of 1968 expanded upon the Vocational Educational Act of 1963. It required national and state advisory councils to be established. It provided federal funding for consumer and homemaking education in addition to vocational education programs, and it allowed for funding to be provided for exemplary programs for children, residential schools, programs for disadvantaged and disabled students, teacher development, curriculum development, and cooperative work-study. -
Vocational Amendment 1976
The Vocational Amendments of 1976 were implemented in order to help fight sex discrimination and bias. It required any state that received vocational education funding to develop programs and activities to help overcome gender bias, stereotypes, and discrimination in vocational education. It also allowed for funding for programs for single parents, stay at home mothers, part-time employees trying to find full-time work, and those looking for jobs nontraditional for their sex. -
The National Coalition of Black Development in Family and Consumer Sciences Founded
The National Coalition of Black Development in Family and Consumer Sciences was founded in order to encourage and grow the presence of African American individuals within the family and consumer sciences field. The Coalition has helped to strengthen the presence of family and consumer sciences in historically black colleges, worked with other organizations to continue growing the profession, and helped to recognize and record the contributions and achievements of black professionals. -
Carl Perkins Act
The Carl Perkins Act provided federal funding for vocational education programs, especially for the special populations outlined in the act. These special populations included individuals who have a disability, who are disadvantaged, or have difficulty speaking English. This act required that vocational education must be provided equally to these special populations, including those with disabilities.