exhibition   timeline   bibliography   credits
  biographies   interviews   locations  
RMC
College of Human Ecology
Cornell University
 
  overview
 
  home sewing
 
  a profession?
 
  type of research?
 
  types of careers?
 
  national and international impact?
 
  educational techniques?
 
  role in national emergencies?
 
  influence on consumer culture?
 
  students' self-definition?
 
  practice apartments?
 
  role in the university?
 
  change to Human Ecology?
 
  women's suffrage
 
  Eleanor Roosevelt
 
  Marriage Course
 
  quotes


Was Home Economics A Profession?

Just like the other feminized service professions -- teaching, nursing, social work, and librarianship -- home economics struggled to establish a professional identity. In a series of conferences held at Lake Placid between 1899 and 1909, home economists defined the nature of their field, debated what to call themselves, and founded their first professional association and research journal. In 1909, the American Home Economics Association (AHEA) was formally organized with the aim of improving "living conditions in the home, the institutional household, and the community."

Home economists then developed their own credentials and began to earn advanced degrees in the field. In 1919, Cornell established a chapter of Omicron Nu, the national home economics honor society for both undergraduate and graduate students, and faculty affiliated with regional groups such as the College Clothing Teachers of the Eastern United States. In 1922, Cornell awarded its first masters degree in home economics and, in 1930, its first Ph.D. in the field. After a concerted struggle, graduates of the College of Home Economics were finally permitted to join the Ithaca Branch of the American Association of University Women, in 1949. By the 1960s, Cornell home economists were affiliated with and held leadership positions in many different professional associations including the New York State Home Economics Association, the New York State Association of Extension Home Economists, the American Council on Consumer Interests, the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals, the Association of College Professors of Textiles and Clothing (now the International Textiles and Apparel Association), the National Association on the Education of Young Children, the National Council on Family Relations, and the American Dietetics Association.

Select an image at left
or choose from the list below:

  exhibition

biographies

timeline interviews bibliography credits  

 

Copyright © 2001 Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853.
Phone Number: (607) 255-3530. Fax Number: (607) 255-9524.

For reference questions, send mail to: rareref@cornell.edu
If you have questions or comments about the site, send mail to: webmaster.