New Kroch Library exhibit shows history of home economics

Preparing the home economics exhibit in Kroch Library last week are, from left, Joan Jacobs Brumberg, professor of human development and Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellow; Eileen Keating, curator for the exhibit and the university records manager in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections; and undergraduates Alison Louie '01 and Chris Payne '02. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

Experimenting with quick cake mixes, designing a dress, learning to care for babies: These stereotypical images of home economics don't tell the whole story. In fact, research is showing that home economics was a progressive field that brought science to the farm home and brought women into higher education and leadership positions in public education, academia, government and industry.

In celebration of the centennial of Cornell's New York State College of Human Ecology, the exhibition "From Domesticity to Modernity: What Was Home Economics?" shows the intellectual history of home economics.

In the university's Carl A. Kroch Library, from March 30 to Aug. 17, the exhibition examines the historical roots of Cornell's College of Home Economics from 1900 to 1969, when it was renamed the College of Human Ecology.

The opening reception for the exhibit, which is part of the College of Human Ecology's centennial weekend, March 30-31, is 4:15 p.m. Friday, March 30, in the Kroch Library. The weekend celebration includes lectures, panel discussions, receptions and much more.

The exhibition is the result of a collaborative effort between Cornell's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections and the students in the human development course Archival Research: Exploring the History of Home Economics, taught by Professor Joan Jacobs Brumberg. The students investigated the history of home economics, did extensive hands-on research in the university archives and provided the text for the exhibit. Their reports and recommendations on visual material were instrumental in generating the exhibition web site, http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/homeEc/.

The exhibit shows how the home economics program at Cornell provided women with access to higher education in such fields as consumer economics, textiles, nutrition, child development and institution management.

The early 20th century home economists were pioneers and reformers who opened up new professional paths for women, brought science to the American home and elevated the standard of living, according to Eileen Keating, curator for the exhibit and the university records manager at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, who worked with the students researching the project.

The exhibit depicts how at the turn of the 20th century, home economics was a critical pathway into higher education for American women, largely associated with co-educational land-grant institutions such as Cornell. From its inception, collegiate home economics was multidisciplinary and integrative, with an emphasis on science applied to the real world of the home, families and communities, said Brumberg.

The exhibit also shows how in the early decades of the 20th century, home economists had links to the revitalization of agriculture and rural communities, but also to Progressive Era programs in cities. By the 1920s, home economists at Cornell were best known for research in human nutrition and child development, but their work in fields such as fiber science, design and consumer economics made them central to the growth of the consumer economy, as well.

Many of the early photographs of the home economics program at Cornell may be viewed on the web at: http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/eDB-HEphotos/.

The college's centennial celebration begins at noon on Friday, March 30, and concludes at 12:15 p.m. Saturday, March 31. For more details about the celebration weekend, see http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/March01/HE.centenn.ssl.html or contact Gret Atkin at gla2@cornell.edu.