Cook, Clean, Sew, Set, RepeatA Very Brief History of Home Ec

Readers born before 1970 will remember Home Ec with varying degrees of fondness. Those were the classes where mostly girls learned to sew an apron, bake a snickerdoodle, diaper a baby, and set a table. Girls took these classes because the boys were in woodshop making planters or tables.


The history of how we arrived at that mid-century curriculum reflects the influence of westward expansion and industrialization on public education in America. Before the mid-1800s, home management and domestic arts were learned in the home with mothers, aunts, and grandmothers passing on their knowledge. The Morrill Act of 1862 established land-grant colleges in order to teach occupational skills to the “industrial classes.”1 Some of the courses were designed especially for women. These courses included “instruction in cooking, sewing, millinery, laundering, home decorations, home sanitation, home hygiene, and home nursing.” Women graduating with a degree in home economics could become teachers and establish programs in middle and high schools throughout the nation.

In 1899, Ellen H. Richards organized a conference for the application of science to household problems. Specialists in chemistry, biology, economics, psychology, and sociology met with a goal of systematizing household activities to improve efficiency and free women to do other things.

By the early 20th century, Home Economics provided an avenue for many women to pursue careers outside the home. However, married women were not allowed to be teachers, so many Home Ec teachers were unmarried and childless. By 1942, when Elizabeth Randolph wrote a graduate thesis on “A Brief History of the Teaching of Home Economics in the Public Schools of the United States.”2 Home Ec was firmly established in middle and high schools across the country. One of her recommendations for the future of Home Ec was to alter the curriculum to increase the number of boys who would benefit from the program. She also recommended adequate planning and funding for schools in smaller communities and minimum standards for appropriate equipment.


The way Home Economics developed in America was both freeing and limiting. Old cultural norms were hard to break. After World War II, there was an unconscious effort to force the genie back into the bottle – the genie being the women who ran the country while the men were at war.

The 1950s were years of discontent and dissatisfaction for those women who had discovered success outside of the home and liked it. Home Ec was seen by some as sexist, hypocritical, racist, and exclusionary.2
 
By early 1970, Home Ec was being replaced with courses like Family and Consumer Sciences, which focused on economics, psychology, and practical household management (balancing a checkbook, for example).


According to kids.britannica.com,


Overall, the study of Home Economics has been influenced by the changing quality of modern life. Today, Home Economics students are no longer taught merely how to cook and sew, but also how to buy the food they prepare and fabrics for the clothing they make. In fact, a large number of Home Economics courses place greater emphasis on consumer education than on homemaking skills.1


Like everything else in our society, the study of home economics is evolving to meet the needs of a changing world. Culinary Arts and Textile Arts are replacing cooking and sewing. The curriculum for these programs are more comprehensive, international, and useful in our post-industrial economy.

Still, you have to wonder how children will learn how to create and maintain a home. As in the olden days, they’ll probably learn from parents and relatives. Economic conditions will certainly influence how, what and when they learn essential skills. It may be time, as many notables, including Anthony Bourdain are campaigning, to reinvigorate and reinstate a Home Arts and Sciences program for the 21st century.
 
Cheryl Stewart
MOTAL Boardmember
 
Cited Sources
1 kids.britannica.com/students/article/home-economics/274928#202129-toc


2 digitalcommons.butler.edu/grtheses/331


3 https://www.salon.com/2021/05/09/the-history-of-home-economics-is-both-surprisingly-radical-and-conspicuously-regressive/


Additional References
American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences


New York State College of Home Economics at Cornell


Who Killed Home Ec. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/home-ec-classes_n_5882830