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MEMORABILIA celebrates 100 years of Family and Consumer Sciences in Georgia with an array of items that celebrate the development of the field, previously known as Home Economics, in the University of Georgia. The exhibit includes items from the Home Management Houses (1940-1986), dresses and other items worn by former Deans and faculty as well as textbooks, appliances, and many other objects reflecting the past of the profession.
A Brief History of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia
During the early 1900s, Home Economics provided academic and career opportunities for women. Graduates became teachers, Extension agents, and dietitians, using their knowledge to help solve the problems of nutritional deficiencies, food scarcity, poverty, poor sanitation, and illness. Their work was especially important during World War I and the Great Depression.
In the 1910s Tomato and Canning Clubs organized for girls. Women’s extension programs developed, USDA and College of Agriculture. By 1918 laboratories for foods and nutrition, and a cafeteria were added in Conner Hall.
After more than 20 years of petitioning for the admission of women to the University, 13 women enrolled in the new Division of Home Economics in the State College of Agriculture, 1918.
1918 Rosalie Virginia Rathbone, first faculty member of Textiles and Clothing.
Mary E. Creswell was appointed Head of the Division of Home Economics in 1918 and received the BSHE, 1919. The other women, known as “the first twelve,” received their BSHE degrees, 1920.
1920s Nutrition Research, Catherine Newton, PI Experiment Station projects included:
• Vitamins A and B (animal model)
• Dietary Habits of Georgians
• Vitamin and mineral content of Georgia foods.
The Home Management Apartment was included in the Woman’s Building (Soule Hall) in 1920 and the first course in home management was offered at this time.
Ethel V. Creswell appointed to millinery and pattern design in 1921, later she taught Home Management.
The “Womans Building” (Soule Hall) opened in1920 with classrooms, laboratories and dormitory rooms for home economics students.Graduate courses in Home Economics for the MSHE were established, 1924.
1924 Laura Spelman Rockefeller Foundation Grant created a center to teach child development and to do field work in parent education.
In 1927 Georgia Power Company provided funds for a laboratory to study electrical home equipment. By 1929 the Home equipment laboratory had moved to large rooms on second floor of Barrow Hall. Visitors from 24 states came to observe the modern equipment donated by manufacturers and utility companies.
 Dawson Hall with classrooms, teaching and research laboratories, “tea room” (institutional administration practicum café), faculty offices, and Home Economics Extension offices opened, 1932.
1932 Dawson Hall third floor included Sewing and Textiles Laboratories, and three studios for the Department of Fine and Applied Arts (then a unit of the Division of Home Economics); by 1933 a Clothing major was offered to home economics students.
Division of Home Economics merged with Household Arts Department of the Georgia State Teachers College to become the School of Home Economics, 1933.
Courses in Family Life and Child Development offered in the 1930s:
• Development of the Young Child
• Child Care and Training
• Behavior Problems in Children
• Social and Economic Problems of the Family.
Courses in Home Management during the 1930s included:
• Home Management
• Home Equipment
• Home Planning and Furnishing
• Household Engineering.
Home Management Houses and Child Development Laboratory occupied, 1940.
Home management houses were a standard part of the Home Economics curriculum at most universities from the early 1900s to the 1980s. The purpose of the home management house was to provide practical experiences for students in applying the concepts and skills they had learned in courses in foods, nutrition, housing, family relations, clothing and textiles, budgeting, and time management. Four home management houses were constructed on Sanford Road near Carlton Street with funding through the Works Progress Administration the late 1930s. The red brick buildings were first occupied in 1940.The home management residence requirement was discontinued in 1986 so that emphasis in household management courses could be placed on concepts instead of performance of repetitive tasks.
During the World War II years an emphasis on remodeling and repairing clothing and family clothing budgets in response to war time defense. In 1942 and in cooperation with the American Red Cross, a course “Home Care of the Sick” was offered for the duration of the war emergency due to shortage of nurses. Students received certificates in “Home Nursing.”
In 1944, as part of the Silver Anniversary of Home Economics at UGA, a Museum Committee was formed, and the Historic Costume and Textiles Collection was launched.
Dr. Pauline Park Wilson appointed Dean of the School of Home Economics, 1946.
1946 Institutional management courses taught in the University Dining Halls, designed to meet American Dietetic Association criteria.
Jessie Julia Mize was appointed to the faculty in 1952, working in Extension, instruction, and administration until 1974.
Dr. Mary Speirs appointed Dean, 1954.
Between 1955 and 1981Dr. Elizabeth Sheerer, Head, Department of Child and Family Development. In the1960s Dr. Sheerer, M. McPhaul, & F. Brooke led the development of Head Start.
In 1960 the textiles research laboratory equipped in the Physics Building.
Dawson Hall annex (Speirs Hall) added and Child Development Center were completed in 1971.
Dr. Emily Quinn Pou appointed Dean, 1971. Majors in Fashion Merchandising and Furnishings and Interiors were introduced.
Specialization within home economics offered more opportunities for diversity of careers and expansion of research. Doctoral programs in Foods and Nutrition and Child and Family Development were developed. Growth in the student population and in faculty numbers strengthened the School.
In 1973 Child and Family Development Center was renamed to honor Margaret McPhaul upon completion of new facilities.
Home Economics/Family and Consumer Sciences Alumni Association organized, 1977.
School of Home Economics became College of Home Economics, 1978.
Dean’s Aide program (College Ambassadors) established, 1979.
New entrance to Dawson Hall erected (“Pou’s Pillars”), 1982.
College of Home Economics renamed College of Family and Consumer Sciences, 1990.
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