FCS History

Chronological Events
By Ann Nielsen
 1841
In 1841 Catharine Esther Beecher an American
Author wrote - A Treatise on Domestic Economy. This
was the first American work to deal with all facets
of domestic life. The Treatise helped to bring
domestic practices and reinforce domestic values,
arguing that a woman’s proper role was in the
home, where she could powerfully affect American
society. (1)

https://www.pinterest.com/annintyler/pilot-assignment/
 1862
On July 2, 1862 The First Morrill Act is passed, making it possible
for states to provide colleges for people through land grant
institutions. (2) “Knowledge, being necessary to good government and
the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall
forever be encouraged.” (Continental Congress. Northwest Ordinance 1787)

https://today.tamu.edu/2018/07/01/the-morrill-act-explained/
 1873
•Kansas State begins it domestic
economy curriculum by starting
academic teaching of home economics
for women, becoming one of the first
two colleges to offer the program of
study.(3)

https://www.hhs.k-state.edu/150/library/
 1873

• Ellen Richards was the first woman to receive a Bachelor

of Science degree from MIT. Vassar awards her a
Master’s degree based on her scientific thesis. She
continued her studies at MIT and would have been the
first to receive a Master of Science in Chemistry, however
MIT would not grant this distinction to a woman.(4)

https://mininghalloffame.org/page/ellen-swallow-richards
 1882
• Ellen Richards felt that all women
should be educated in sciences
and wrote books on the science
of housekeeping this led her to
publishing-The Chemistry for
Cooking and Cleaning: A Manual for
Housekeepers.(5)
https://archive.org/details/chemistrycooking00richiala
 1885
In June 1885, the superintendent agreed to
incorporate Domestic science into Boston
Schools. (6)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Childe_Hassam,_%27Boston_Common_at_Twilight%27,_1885%E2%80%9386.jpg
 1887
Ellen Richards performed a survey that led to the
nation’s first water quality standards. (4)

https://www.jphs.org/people/2005/4/14/ellen-swallow-richards-the-first-oekologist.html
 The Second Morrill Act passed,
requiring each state to show that
race was not an admissions
creation, or else to designate a
separate land-grant institution for
persons of color. (7)

1890

http://www.blackbottomarchives.com/blackhistory/2015/2/18/morrill-act-of-1890
 1893

In Chicago, The World Columbian

Exposition in presented , the
“Science of Nutrition” by Edward
Atkinson at the Rumford
https://whatscookinvt.wordpress.com/2017/03/16/whm-ellen-richards/
Kitchen.(8)
 1901
The state supports education to grow from practical
education to expand to vocational education.(9)

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/can-you-pass-college-entrance-exam-1901/
 1909
Family and consumer sciences (FCS), organized
The American Home Economics Association. (10)
https://www.aafcs.org/advertise/about-aafcs

https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea
 1914

“In 1914 the Smith Lever Act Extension

created a Cooperative Extension Service
associated with each land-grant
institution.”(11)

https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/ipd/apronsandkitchens/items/show/42
 1917

•The Smith-Hughes Act is passed, establishing federal

support for vocational education. Since then it has
bettered the quality of America’s rural farm families and
across the globe. Smith-Hughes Act, was America’s first
step in transforming education. (12)

https://www.ffa.org/about/what-is-ffa/ffa-history/1917-smith-hughes-act/
 1963

•Vocational Education Act- provided grants to maintain

and develop vocational-technical education programs.
(13)

https://voc-ed.ehe.osu.edu/1963-vocational-ed-act/
 1998
•Family and Consumer
Sciences begins to
dwindle in public schools
decreasing 38 percent
over a decade. Many
believe shortage of
qualified teachers, and
slashing budgets to name
a few. (14)
 2009

•First Lake Bonneville

Summit was held at BYU-
Idaho on Friday, April 24,
2009 to celebrate and
remember the positive
professional networks in the
Southeast Idaho area.(15)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Young_University%E2%80%93Idaho
 Reflection
The personal impact these historical events have had on me is 1. I am grateful for Catharine Esther
Beecher who wrote A Treatise on Domestic Economy. Who argued that a woman’s proper role was in the
home, where she could powerfully affect American society. (1) This gave me the ability to have a mother
who did just that with me and my siblings by teaching us truth and raising us in the gospel to be able to
withstand the road that leads ahead. 2. If not for all those women and men that fought for the education
of women, I would not have the ability to live as an independent woman and be able to use my talents to
help others. If not for Ellen Richards, I would not have the great blessing of plumbing and clean water to
drink and shower in. I would not have learned to sew, cook or clean the home and I would not have
learned the importance of nutrition and the positive effects it has on the human body. Ellen Richard’s
example also taught me how important education is and there will always be barricades in the way but
with God on our side and our love for education we can find a way through it. I am also grateful for the
people who fought racism, though it is still a fight today, I am grateful that we are allowed the freedom of
speech and the freedom to set racism aside and love each other, learn from each other, and embrace our
differences for the good.
Bibliography
1. Encyclopedia Britannica. (September 2, 2020) Catharine Beecher, American educator and author.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Catharine-Beecher#ref237965
2. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. (1995) Morrill Act (1862) p. 57
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=33
3. Craig, Hazel Thompson, Stover, Blanch Margaret. (1904) The History of Home Economics. Home Economics
Archive. http://hearth.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-
idx?c=hearth;cc=hearth;rgn=full%20text;idno=5725268;didno=5725268;view=image;seq=7;node=5725268%3A
5;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset;
4. American Chemical Society. (1998) Ellen H. Swallow Richards (1842-1911)
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/women-scientists/ellen-h-swallow-
richards.html
5. Science History Institute (December 15, 2017) Ellen H. Swallow Richards.
https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/ellen-h-swallow-richards

6. Bevier, Isabel. Home Economics in Education. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1924.

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu
7. Lee, Michael., Keys, Samaad,. Land-Grand But Unequal State One-To-One Match Funding For 1890 Land-Grant
Universities., (September 2013) Association of Public and Land-Grand Universities.
https://www.aplu.org/library/land-grant-but-unequal
8. McNally, Rand. (1893) Bird’s-Eye View of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. Rand McNally and Company
https://www.wdl.org/en/item/11369/
9. Ogden, William R. Vocational Education: A Historical Perspective. (Apr. – May, 1990) University of North Carolina Press
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40364875
10. American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences. (n.d) About AAFCS.
https://www.aafcs.org/advertise/about-aafcs
11. Chapter 79 of the 63rd Congress; Approved on May 8, 1914; 38 Stat. 372, 7 U.S.C. 341 et seq. As Amended
Through P.L. 115–334, Enacted December 20, 2018
https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/download/compilation/...
12. FFA. (n.d.) 1917-SmithHughes Act
https://www.ffa.org/about/what-is-ffa/ffa-history/1917-smith-hughes-act/
13. Rich, John Martin. (n.d.) Vocational Education. Texas State Historical Association.
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/vocational-
14. The Salt. (June 14, 2018) Despite a Revamped Focus on Real-Life Skills, ‘Home Ec” Classes Fade Away.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/06/14/618329461/despite-a-revamped-focus-on-real-life-skills-
home-ec-classes-fade-away
15. BYU Idaho (n.d.) Family and Consumer Science.
https://www.byui.edu/teacher-education/accreditation/professional-certification-programs/secondary-
education/family-and-consumer-science
Pictures
1. https://www.pinterest.com/annintyler/pilot-assignment/
2. https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=33
3. https://www.hhs.k-state.edu/150/library/
4. https://mininghalloffame.org/page/ellen-swallow-richards
5. https://archive.org/details/chemistrycooking00richiala
6. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Childe_Hassam,_%27Boston_Common_at_Twilight%27,_1885%E2%8
0%9386.jpg
7. https://www.jphs.org/people/2005/4/14/ellen-swallow-richards-the-first-oekologist.html
8. http://www.blackbottomarchives.com/blackhistory/2015/2/18/morrill-act-of-1890
9. https://archive.org/details/chemistrycooking00richiala
10. https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/can-you-pass-college-entrance-exam-1901/
11. https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea
12. https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/ipd/apronsandkitchens/items/show/42
13. https://www.ffa.org/about/what-is-ffa/ffa-history/1917-smith-hughes-act/
14. https://voc-ed.ehe.osu.edu/1963-vocational-ed-act/
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Young_University%E2%80%93Idaho