The Land Grant Act and the Birth of Home Economics at Purdue University
The Land Grant of 1862 was originally called the Morrill Act of 1862, signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862. It gave 17.4 million acres of land to the senators and state representatives to sell so they could establish funding to create colleges across the country to teach agriculture and mechanics. The purpose of these colleges was to educate a larger cross-section of the population in academic as well as pragmatic pursuits, agriculture and mechanics in particular. Home economics was included as a part of agriculture. Some of the pioneering states were Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Vermont. Since this act was put into effect during times of segregation, it was acceptable to establish a college that did not allow African Americans or other races. For this reason, the second Morrill Act was put into effect on August 30, 1890, by President Benjamin Harrison. This act ordered states to divide up the funding equally and create colleges and institutions with the same goals for other races. These colleges became what today are known as Historical Black Colleges or 1890 Colleges. These two important land grant acts allowed for the creation of colleges for students of all races to be able to learn about home economics/family and consumer sciences as well as other academic disciplines.
Purdue University was established in 1869, seven years after the Morrill Act, and opened its doors in 1874 (and to women in 1875). The first attempt to create a home economics program came in 1887 when Professor Emma P. Ewing tried to establish a three-year course of study called “Domestic Economy” within the School of Science. Courses in the first and second year were to concentrate on cooking, while the third year was to have encompassed housework, laundry, social etiquette, high tea, and additional cooking classes. Though Ewing’s attempts were short-lived, her efforts were soon followed by others who echoed the need for education focusing on home and families. Late in the 19th century, Purdue sponsored farmers’ institutes throughout the state to educate farmers on the latest scientific and technological advances in agriculture. Begun in 1882, the institutes were a huge success, but organizers weren’t prepared for the number of farm wives who accompanied their husbands to the institutes and wanted programs of their own. Virginia Meredith was one of the early women who demanded of Purdue’s President Stone “something for the womenfolk” at the all-men’s agricultural meetings. Meredith joined the farmer’s institutes in 1889 as a speaker, and she became the driving force in the creation of a home economics program at Purdue.