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Catherine Beecher
The first women to advocate for the economics of running a home. She was an American educator and an activist for equal education for women. She embraced traits associated with femininity such as nurturance, Beecher argued that women were "uniquely suited to the moral and intellectual development of children, either as mothers or as educators." -
Ellen Swallow Richards
Ellen was an innovator and the forefront of women's education. She paved the way for women and the application of practical science in education. She is the first woman to be admitted to MIT and to become the first female instructor there. -
Justin Smith Morrill/Morrill Act
Justin Morrill was a Congressman from Vermont who sponsored the Land Grant College Act, or Morrill Act. This Act boosted the higher education system by introducing applied science to classrooms such as agriculture, home economics, and other practical programs that prepare students for real-life skills. This Act was signed and made into law by President Abraham Lincoln. -
Land-Grant University
Land-Grant Universities were given federal land through the Morrill Act of 1862. These Universities were Institutes of higher education that taught practical agriculture. States were given 30,000 acres of land to sell, and then the money would then go towards a land-grant university to fund its education. -
Land-Grant Universities of Arkansas
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff -
Martha Rensselaer
Martha was recognized for her work as a professor at Cornell University. She attended the Lake Placid Conference of 1899 to contribute to the foundations of home economics. She also served as the President of AAFCS. -
Agnes Faye Morgan
Agnes Morgan was an American biochemist who pioneered the development of home economics as a scientific discipline and was an expert in nutrition. Agnes Faye Morgan was the chair of the Department of Home Economics at the University of California Berkley and was appointed to serve on President Roosevelt's First Nutritional Congress board. -
Benjamin Thompson
A physicist and inventor that was the first to label nutrition as a science. This contributes to the idea of applied science in contextual learning. -
School Lunch Program
Ellen Swallow Richards is the founder of the School Lunch Program. Her mission was to provide nutritious meals at a low cost for students at school. The New England Kitchen ran this program as a 'private enterprise' and benefit many young children who otherwise would've gone hungry. Ellen sought to reform the American diet so that children had access to food that would nourish their bodies. -
American Home Economics Association (AHEA)
In 1909 the AHEA was established and dedicated to the enhancement of Improving individual, family, and community wellbeing, impacting the development, delivery, and evaluation of consumer goods and services, and influencing the creation of public policy and shaping social change. The name was later changed to the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS). -
Girls Tomato Club
The first Girl's Tomato Club (4-H) organized by Marie Cromer, a teacher, to educate young girls and to improve the quality of life on the farm for women and farming families by teaching kitchen skills relevant to that time. This club was administered through Agricultural Extension. -
Smith-Lever Act
The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 established extension programs to educate rural American areas on current information regarding agriculture, FACS, and technology. This outreach program is still in practice, and each county employs an extension agent to educate their community. This program is facilitated through Land-Grant Universities. -
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
In 1917, the ADA was founded by a group of 58 people. Their mission was to educate in the field of nutrition and teach families the art of feeding their families. -
Smith Hughes Act
The Smith Hughes Act led the way to further education in practical vocation. This funded education for farmers in rural communities and focused on areas that were relevant to them, rather than the study of classical art that offered little benefit to the majority of people. -
Vocational Education Act
The Vocational Education Act was established to merge vocational education and specific job training. This act requires vocational programs to stay up to date on current work trends, mechanic applications, and economic changes. -
Vocational Education Amendment of 1968
This Amendment branches off the work of the Vocational Act of 1963. However, this act requires a national and state advisory council to submit policies and procedures and a 5-year-program plan. -
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and is a reconstructed version of previous vocational amendments to prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. -
Vocational Education Amendment of 1976
Directs the Commissioner of Education to reserve a portion of specified appropriations for transfer to the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee and for vocational education programs for Indians. -
Carl Perkins Act
This Acts provides students of high school and postsecondary with the academic and technical skills to succeed in the workforce and technical training in the career of their choice. -
Name Change
From 1904 to 1994, the program of Family and Consumer Science was referred to as "Home Economics" According to the NFCR, the name was officially changed to FACS to “signal a formal break from the field’s association with domesticity, highlighting instead issues of family and consumption.” The revised name does a better job of reflecting the current aspects of the program. -
References
1917 - Smith Hughes Act. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://www.ffa.org/about/what-is-ffa/ffa-history/1917-smith-hughes-act/ Carl Perkins Act. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://education.alaska.gov/cte/carlperkins National Institute of Food and Agriculture. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://nifa.usda.gov/land-grant-colleges-and-universities -
References Continued...
The Smith-Lever Act of 1914. (2014, August 12). Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://www.archivesfoundation.org/documents/smith-lever-act-1914/
