EXHIBITS
Women Leaders of the College of Family Life: Early Leaders
Early Leaders
From the 1890s through the 1950s, women leaders of the department used their status as professors of home economics to perform high-level scientific research. They explored different aspects of home management, from nutrition to childcare, in hopes of improving the quality of life for homemakers throughout the community.
In 1890, Abby Marlatt became one of two women out of seven people in the first faculty of Utah State Agricultural College (USAC). She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry, which was unusual because women at that time did not typically study science or earn advanced degrees. Her work focused on nutrition and cooking methods. [1]
Ellen Huntington was the first director of the Department of Domestic Science and creator of the State Home Economics Association. [2] She performed research on fireless cooking, and wrote about her findings in The Fireless Cooker. Fireless cooking (similar to the modern-day crockpot) conserved fuel by trapping the heat inside the cooker, which allowed the food to cook below boiling point. [3] She proved that fireless cooking was an effective way of preparing food, which improved the quality of life for homemakers and their families.
Johanna Moen led the Home Economics and Consumer Education Department from 1916-1940. She created the college’s remarkable clothing and textiles program. During her tenure, the college’s focus shifted to mothercraft, the idea that a child needs more than good nutrition and clothing to develop properly. In addition to classes on nutrition and play, physiology and psychology were introduced. [4] These classes made women more aware of how a child’s body and mind functions and the best ways to care for them.
Christine Clayton was an extension specialist over Nutrition and Food Sciences from 1923-1924, dean of the School of Home Economics from 1933-43, and head of the Department of Family and Human Development from 1942-43. [5] In 1926, she won the Spelman Rockefeller Fellowship (one of the highest awards granted in the field of home economics), which allowed her to do research on child welfare. [6] Her master’s degree in child development and role as extension specialist enabled her to research the nutrition habits of children in outlying regions of Utah. [7]
Almeda Brown served as acting dean of the School of Home Economics from 1943-45 and head of the Department of Household Economics and Management from 1945-48. [8] She studied natural sciences at USAC in 1897. [9] Her interest in natural sciences led her to perform research on ascorbic acid nutrition, which received national acclaim. Brown also researched Utah farm families’ nutrition habits, specifically in children. [10]
Women leaders in the early college used their status as professors of home economics to perform scientific research. Although their research focused mainly on improving the quality of home life, they set a precedent for the leaders of the college in the years that followed.