{"id":1602,"date":"2024-04-26T20:11:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T20:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/?p=1602"},"modified":"2025-04-23T15:24:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T15:24:24","slug":"home-economics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/home-economics\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Economics (1924)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Home Economics, circa 1934. Image source:\u00a0MSU Physical Plant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The success of the \u201cWomen\u2019s Course,\u201d which became the Divison of Home Economics in 1909, led to its outgrowth of both the Women\u2019s Building (Morrill Hall<\/a>) and\u00a0Abbot Hall<\/a>. As a result, the state Legislature granted funds for a new Home Economics building, one of few state-funded construction projects of the 1920s. Designed by\u00a0Edwyn Bowd<\/a>, the four-story building displays typical Collegiate Gothic style with its steeply pitched roof and decorative castellations, buttresses, and limestone quoins. Additions to the building were completed in 1937 (designed by Bowd\u2013Munson) and 1980 (designed by the M.S.U. Physical Plant).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with offices and classrooms, the building contained laboratories that allowed the school to conduct scientific research and offer a graduate program in nutrition. These are but two examples of the broader scope of the Home Economics Division. As Dean Jean Krueger wrote in 1926, \u201cWe are not concerned now so much with the actual machinery of living, the perfection of the skills involved in the sewing of a \u2018fine seam,\u2019 or the making of a delicious pie, as we are in the psychological, sociological and economic adjustments of family groups to present day and future needs.\u201d1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expanded division offered a total of eight different majors that prepared women for \u201ca score of vocations\u201d beyond the home including teaching, institutional management, clothing design, and textile chemistry. A graduate of a five-year cooperative course with the Edward W. Sparrow Hospital earned a B.S. degree and a general nursing certification. Next door, a home management practice house (formerly\u00a0Faculty Row<\/a>\u00a0\u2116\u00a010 but known to the H.E. division as \u2116\u00a08)†<\/a><\/sup> provided a hands-on experience in all aspects of a functioning home as well as \u201cthe solution of family living problems.\u201d2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Division of Home Economics later grew to become the College of Home Economics. As its mission continued to expand, the school evolved into the College of Human Ecology, and the Home Economics building was renamed as the Human Ecology building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a side note: About a year after its first broadcast in March 1923, WKAR Radio was installed in studios located in the fourth floor of the Home Economics building\u2019s central tower section. The station was up and running before construction on the building had even been completed.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0293.\u00a0Widder<\/a>, p.\u00a0162. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. Widder<\/a>, pp.\u00a0155\u2013157.\u00a0Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0293. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. Kuhn<\/a>, pp.\u00a0315\u2013316;\u00a0Widder<\/a>, p.\u00a0228. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>
    1. † On this site, the Faculty Row houses are named according to numbers, \u2116\u00a01 through \u2116\u00a010, as given in Beal\u2014but that source has its issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Please see this\u00a0note from the author<\/a>\u00a0for further discussion of the Faculty Row house numbers.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/span><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The success of the \u201cWomen\u2019s Course,\u201d which became the Divison of Home Economics in 1909, led to its outgrowth of both the Women\u2019s Building (Morrill Hall) and\u00a0Abbot Hall. As a result, the state Legislature granted funds for a new Home Economics building, one of few state-funded construction projects of the 1920s. Designed by\u00a0Edwyn Bowd, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0293.\u00a0Widder<\/a>, p.\u00a0162.\",\"id\":\"2332f014-6771-45c7-b381-53e3d6559762\"},{\"content\":\"Widder<\/a>, pp.\u00a0155\u2013157.\u00a0Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0293.\",\"id\":\"754d125c-7f8b-4c6d-8ae4-c57f54d0a0ae\"},{\"content\":\"Kuhn<\/a>, pp.\u00a0315\u2013316;\u00a0Widder<\/a>, p.\u00a0228.\",\"id\":\"e28f1027-7948-4dd5-ad2b-29c6d444f6f6\"}]"},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-m-a-c-buildings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1604,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602\/revisions\/1604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}