Introduction to Home Economics
Course Information
Exams consist of multiple-choice and short-answer questions.
Readings and note-taking are expected.
Historical Context: Late 19th Century Challenges
Social Changes: Women gained rights (e.g., voting, recognition as persons).
Public Health: Reliance on preventive medicine, hygiene, and sanitation before antibiotics. Contagious diseases were common, making prevention and education vital.
Child Labor: Young children worked in factories.
Food Adulteration: Widespread contamination of commercially available foods with non-food items (e.g., chalk, sawdust) due to lack of regulation.
Early Food Safety Efforts:
The Poison Squad (US, 1902): Chemist Dr. Harvey Wiley's experiment with volunteers consuming tainted foods to prove dangers; led to the 1906 US Pure Food and Drug Act.
Canadian Regulation: Canada implemented its first food adulteration regulation in 1875, predating the US.
Food Preservation: Before refrigeration, methods included ice boxes, salting, canning, and drying.
Early Advocates & Influencers (Pre-Profession)
Laura Ingalls Wilder: Reflected principles of home economics through her pioneer life (late 1800s-early 1900s), emphasizing resourcefulness, simple pleasures, and family. Processed over a million dollars in government loans.
Lucy Maud Montgomery: Her works highlighted home, community, and family; she was an early adopter and advocate for new technologies (e.g., cars, typewriters, photography, predicted video calls).
Founding the Home Economics Profession
Establishment of a profession requires professional organizations, journals, meetings, and higher education curricula.
Women faced significant barriers to higher education and joining established professions, even with qualifications.
Ellen Swallow Richards: Founder of Home Economics
Background: No formal education until age 16; saved 300 to attend Vassar College at age 26, graduating in 1870. She specialized in chemistry with practical applications.
Breaking Barriers at MIT:
Denied employment after Vassar; admitted to MIT in 1871 as a "special student" without tuition or degree recognition.
Became the first woman faculty member at MIT as an instructor in sanitary chemistry, holding the position until her death at age 69.
Instrumental in establishing a women's laboratory (1876), eventually leading to equal admission and degrees for women in the 1880s within 7 years.
Key Contributions:
Pioneered water safety research and influenced related legislation.
Conducted experiments in her home, treating it as a living laboratory for efficiency.
Initiated the New England Kitchen and Rumford Kitchen (1893 Chicago Exposition) to provide nutritious, low-cost meals and nutrition education to the poor, serving thousands.
Instrumental in starting the Boston school lunch program.
Organized the Lake Placid Conferences (late 1800s) with an initial attendance of 10 people (9 women, 1$$ man), where the term "Home Economics" was officially established to emphasize the scientific management of the home.
Successfully earned her BS in chemistry at MIT and a Master's at Vassar (for vanadium work) but was denied a PhD.
Legacy: Championed women's education, laid scientific foundations for modern family and consumer sciences, and initiated vital public health and nutrition programs.