The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live

The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live
Author: Danielle Dreilinger
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2021-05-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1324004509

The surprising, often fiercely feminist, always fascinating, yet barely known, history of home economics. The term “home economics” may conjure traumatic memories of lopsided hand-sewn pillows or sunken muffins. But common conception obscures the story of the revolutionary science of better living. The field exploded opportunities for women in the twentieth century by reducing domestic work and providing jobs as professors, engineers, chemists, and businesspeople. And it has something to teach us today. In the surprising, often fiercely feminist and always fascinating The Secret History of Home Economics, Danielle Dreilinger traces the field’s history from Black colleges to Eleanor Roosevelt to Okinawa, from a Betty Crocker brigade to DIY techies. These women—and they were mostly women—became chemists and marketers, studied nutrition, health, and exercise, tested parachutes, created astronaut food, and took bold steps in childhood development and education. Home economics followed the currents of American culture even as it shaped them. Dreilinger brings forward the racism within the movement along with the strides taken by women of color who were influential leaders and innovators. She also looks at the personal lives of home economics’ women, as they chose to be single, share lives with other women, or try for egalitarian marriages. This groundbreaking and engaging history restores a denigrated subject to its rightful importance, as it reminds us that everyone should learn how to cook a meal, balance their account, and fight for a better world.

The Secret History of Home Economics

The Secret History of Home Economics
Author: Danielle Dreilinger
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-05-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1324021861

An NPR Favorite History Book of 2021 The surprising, often fiercely feminist, always fascinating, yet barely known, history of home economics. The term “home economics” may conjure traumatic memories of lopsided hand-sewn pillows or sunken muffins. But common conception obscures the story of the revolutionary science of better living. The field exploded opportunities for women in the twentieth century by reducing domestic work and providing jobs as professors, engineers, chemists, and businesspeople. And it has something to teach us today. In the surprising, often fiercely feminist and always fascinating The Secret History of Home Economics, Danielle Dreilinger traces the field’s history from Black colleges to Eleanor Roosevelt to Okinawa, from a Betty Crocker brigade to DIY techies. These women—and they were mostly women—became chemists and marketers, studied nutrition, health, and exercise, tested parachutes, created astronaut food, and took bold steps in childhood development and education. Home economics followed the currents of American culture even as it shaped them. Dreilinger brings forward the racism within the movement along with the strides taken by women of color who were influential leaders and innovators. She also looks at the personal lives of home economics’ women, as they chose to be single, share lives with other women, or try for egalitarian marriages. This groundbreaking and engaging history restores a denigrated subject to its rightful importance, as it reminds us that everyone should learn how to cook a meal, balance their account, and fight for a better world.

Rethinking Home Economics

Rethinking Home Economics
Author: Sarah Stage
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2018-07-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1501729942

Until recently, historians tended to dismiss home economics as little more than a conspiracy to keep women in the kitchen. This landmark volume initiates collaboration among home economists, family and consumer science professionals, and women's historians. What knits the essays together is a willingness to revisit the subject of home economics with neither indictment nor apology. The volume includes significant new work that places home economics in the twentieth century within the context of the development of women's professions. Rethinking Home Economics documents the evolution of a profession from the home economics movement launched by Ellen Richards in the early twentieth century to the modern field renamed Family and Consumer Sciences in 1994. The essays in this volume show the range of activities pursued under the rubric of home economics, from dietetics and parenting, teaching and cooperative extension work, to test kitchen and product development. Exploration of the ways in which gender, race, and class influenced women's options in colleges and universities, hospitals, business, and industry, as well as government has provided a greater understanding of the obstacles women encountered and the strategies they used to gain legitimacy as the field developed.

The Power of Hope

The Power of Hope
Author: First Place 4 Health
Publisher: Gospel Light Publications
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2010-08-11
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 9780830754878

When struggling with the inevitable ups and downs of weight loss and control, it’s easy to lose hope. Life seems to seesaw between victory and defeat, and even short-term failures can lead to feelings of shame, disgrace and despair. Yet hope is a bedrock of Christian faith, and God intends for His children to stand firm, trusting and confident in the future He has planned. The Power of Hope will help participants continue moving toward their goals and help them find energy and motivation to face daily challenges without losing faith. Each First Place 4 Health Bible study contains 12 weeks of daily study to help members put Christ in first place. Based on proven techniques and 25 years of experience, First Place 4 Health is the most complete Christ-centered healthy living program available, and it has helped thousands of members create balance in the four core areas of their lives: emotional, spiritual, mental and physical. The results? Weight loss and total health from the inside out!

Stir It Up

Stir It Up
Author: Megan J. Elias
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2010-08-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 0812221214

Stir It Up explores the changing aims of home economics while putting the phenomena of Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray, Ty Pennington, and the "Mommy Wars" into historical context.

Answering Questions With Statistics

Answering Questions With Statistics
Author: Robert Szafran
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2011-10-20
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1412991323

"The book is divided into three Parts: Part One has chapters that introduce data analysis and SPSS; Part Two contains eight chapters on descriptive statistics that begin with frequency tables and go through multiple regression; and Part Three includes six chapters on inferential statistics. Part One: Getting Started begins by answering some questions most students have right at the start © questions like why study data analysis and how much math and computer knowledge is required? Essential concepts from research methods relevant for data analysis are also explained. Part Two: Descriptive Statistics: Answering Questions about Your Data demonstrates procedures to use when the analyst is only concerned with describing the cases for which he or she actually has data. Statistics summarizing single variables (univariate statistics) are presented first and then statistics summarizing relationships between variables (multivariate statistics). Frequency tables, measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion, crosstabs, measures of association, subgroup means, and regression are all covered as are bar charts, pie charts, histograms, and clustered bar charts. Part Three: Inferential Statistics: Answering Questions about Populations explains procedures which allow the analyst to draw conclusions about the population from which his or her sample of cases was randomly selected. It begins with a simple chapter on the statistical theory behind inferential statistics. A four-step approach to hypothesis testing is introduced in the next chapter and demonstrated with one-sample t test hypotheses. The remaining chapters present different types of hypothesis tests including paired-samples, independent-samples, one and two-way ANOVA, and chi-square"--Provided by publisher.

Finding Betty Crocker

Finding Betty Crocker
Author: Susan Marks
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2010-05-11
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 1439104018

IN 1945, FORTUNE MAGAZINE named Betty Crocker the second most popular American woman, right behind Eleanor Roosevelt, and dubbed Betty America's First Lady of Food. Not bad for a gal who never actually existed. "Born" in 1921 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to proud corporate parents, Betty Crocker has grown, over eight decades, into one of the most successful branding campaigns the world has ever known. Now, at long last, she has her own biography. Finding Betty Crocker draws on six years of research plus an unprecedented look into the General Mills archives to reveal how a fictitious spokesperson was enthusiastically welcomed into kitchens and shopping carts across the nation. The Washburn Crosby Company (one of the forerunners to General Mills) chose the cheery all-American "Betty" as a first name and paired it with Crocker, after William Crocker, a well-loved company director. Betty was to be the newest member of the Home Service Department, where she would be a "friend" to consumers in search of advice on baking -- and, in an unexpected twist, their personal lives. Soon Betty Crocker had her own national radio show, which, during the Great Depression and World War II, broadcast money-saving recipes, rationing tips, and messages of hope. Over 700,000 women joined Betty's wartime Home Legion program, while more than one million women -- and men -- registered for the Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air during its twenty-seven-year run. At the height of Betty Crocker's popularity in the 1940s, she received as many as four to five thousand letters daily, care of General Mills. When her first full-scale cookbook, Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, or "Big Red," as it is affectionately known, was released in 1950, first-year sales rivaled those of the Bible. Today, over two hundred products bear her name, along with thousands of recipe booklets and cookbooks, an interactive website, and a newspaper column. What is it about Betty? In answering the question of why everyone was buying what she was selling, author Susan Marks offers an entertaining, charming, and utterly unique look -- through words and images -- at an American icon situated between profound symbolism and classic kitchen kitsch.

African Americans in the Human Sciences

African Americans in the Human Sciences
Author: Vanessa P. Jackson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2021-07-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1793648956

This book explores the role and experience of African American women scholars and educators in the field of human, family, and consumer sciences. Its five sections cover careers in education, the role of historically Black colleges and universities, opportunities and challenges brought about by the internationalization of the field, opportunities for new careers paths in the human sciences, and the current and future role of technology. The contributors come from a variety of backgrounds with experiences in research, teaching, outreach, and service. Taken together, the essays capture the vitality and diversity of knowledge that has, over time, assisted in transforming the field.

8 Things No Kid Should Leave Home Without

8 Things No Kid Should Leave Home Without
Author: Joe McGee
Publisher: Destiny Image Publishers
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2007-05-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 168031033X

Joe McGee, minister, author, national conference speaker, father, and former school administrator, is the founder and director of Faith For Families and Joe McGee Ministries. Joe presents some of the most entertaining yet practical and insightful teaching on the family available today. Packing more into one sermon than anyone you've ever...

Housewise

Housewise
Author: Suzanne Brangham
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Total Pages: 324
Release: 1988
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780060971649

Speaking directly to women--natural renovators, she feels--the author shares the secrets of her success renovating and selling residential properties. With practical checklists, step-by-step information, and anecdotes from her own career, she tells readers how to prosper. Illustrated.