Purdue University

In 1905, realizing that "Purdue should offer to women opportunities comparable in scientific and technical value with those enjoyed by men," President Winthrop E. Stone announced the creation of a new department of household economics in the School of Science. He chose Ivy Frances Harner, an experienced teacher of household economics at Kansas Agricultural College, to organize and head the new department. Located in Ladies Hall, the department consisted of a suite of rooms adapted for use as laboratories in food, sewing, and chemistry. More than just a place to work and learn, Ladies Hall was also called "home" by the instructors and students who lived there. Two years after its formation, the department was reorganized to include the University’s small art faculty. In 1909, Henrietta W. Calvin, former head of the department of domestic science at Kansas Agricultural College, replaced Harner. In his 1910 Annual Report, President Stone said, "The attendance of women students is rapidly increasing, due to the interest in the instruction in household economics, now well organized and conducted."

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Statistics (1905-06)

• Purdue enrollment: 1,861

By 1910, attendance in the department was rapidly increasing and Ladies Hall could no longer contain the home economics department and house women students and faculty, too. In his plea for a new building for the department, President Winthrop Stone said, "It is neither wise nor desirable to allow women students to be quartered… in scattered homes without supervision." Thus began the philosophy to "get the girls in by 10:30 p.m. and the boys will take care of themselves." It was at this time that Mary L. Matthews came to Purdue, later to be named head of the department in 1912. The Cooperative Extension Service was established in 1911 in Indiana. By 1918, Ladies Hall and the Science Annex housed five home economics laboratories, and the first home management house provided further instructional space. A master’s program in home economics debuted in 1919.

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Statistics (1915-16)

• Purdue enrollment: 2,171

The 1920s were an exciting time for the department of home economics. The department’s rapid growth called for construction of a Home Economics Building (now Matthews Hall), which opened in 1922. It boasted laboratories for teaching foods, clothing, dietetics, food chemistry, and textile chemistry. It also featured a cafeteria to serve as a laboratory for home economics students and an auditorium with seating for 300. In 1923, a plan of study was announced for juniors and seniors in home economics and included options for homemakers and teachers, dietitians and nutrition specialists, clothing specialists, and teachers of institution economics. In 1926, the department separated from the School of Science to become the School of Home Economics and department head Mary Matthews was named its dean. Two years later, physical improvements included playground equipment for the nursery school, a laundry for the household management courses, and a research laboratory/animal experimental room (known as the "rat lab") for nutrition classes.

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Statistics (1925-26)

• Purdue enrollment: 3,202
• Home Economics enrollment: 320

Two women of renown impacted home economics students in the 1930s. Aviatrix Amelia Earhart served as a career counselor for women students at Purdue for several years before her mysterious disappearance in 1937. Dr. Lillian Gilbreth, professor of industrial engineering and inspiration for the book Cheaper by the Dozen (written by two of her 12 children) taught management classes in the home administration option from 1938-1942. During this time, opportunities for women were expanding and the School experimented with an optional curriculum that wasn’t directed only toward homemaking. In 1939, Dean Matthews offered a course for both women and men entitled Some Problems in Right Living.

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Statistics (1935-36)

• Purdue enrollment: 4,615
• Home Economics enrollment: 460

Before World War II could drain the campus of its men (and women), the School of Home Economics broke the gender barrier and graduated its first male student, Harold Hawes, a dietetics major, in 1941. During the war, the School expanded its course offerings to include "war-time cookery" and "canteen classes." During this time, Dean Mary Matthews served as director of home economics for the Indiana Food Administration and was a member of the State Council on Defense. After the armistice, the GI Bill brought a surge of new students to Purdue — the fall 1946 enrollment of 11,462 was double that of the previous year. Two new departments were established in the School: family life in 1946 and equipment and family housing in 1948.

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Statistics (1945-46)

• Purdue enrollment: 5,628
• Home Economics enrollment: 930
• Resident fees (academic year): $108

In 1952, a new era of leadership began for home economics when Beulah V. Gillaspie succeeded Mary Matthews as dean. The old Home Economics Building was remodeled and renamed Home Economics II (now Matthews Hall). A new Home Economics Administration Building (now Stone Hall) opened in 1957 on the site of Ladies Hall. In addition, the child development and family life department moved to a new building, complete with junior-sized facilities for the nursery school. By 1959, the seven departments (art and design, child development and family life, clothing and textiles, equipment and family housing, foods and nutrition, home management and family economics, and institutional management) were settled in three buildings.

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Statistics (1955-56)

• Purdue enrollment: 11,813
• Home Economics enrollment: 946
• Resident fees (academic year): $170

The 1960s brought many changes to American society and to the School of Home Economics as well. Three different deans presided over the School during this time. Dean Gillaspie ended her tenure and was succeeded by Gladys E. Vail (1963-1967) and Eva L. Goble (1967-1973). Two departments, art and design and child development and family life, transferred into the newly created School of Humanities, Social Science, and Education. Meanwhile, home economics extension specialists, formerly in the School of Agriculture, were integrated into the School of Home Economics beginning in 1967. It was also during the 1960s that the University abolished its policy requiring freshman women live in the residence halls.

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Statistics (1965-66)

• Purdue enrollment: 20,176
• Home Economics enrollment: 796
• Resident fees (academic year): $330

As the dynamics and definition of "family" and "home" shifted, the School of Home Economics adapted to accommodate these new social realities and to prepare men and women for careers in service to the family and consumer. It was also a time to evaluate the School’s mission and to make sure the name of the School and its departments accurately represented what was being offered. Presiding over these developments was Dean Norma Compton, appointed in 1973. The first to change with the times was the department of institutional management, renaming itself the department of restaurant, hotel, and institutional management in 1973. The School changed its name from Home Economics to Consumer and Family Sciences in 1976, and child development and family life changed its name to child development and family studies. Also in 1976, the department of consumer sciences and retailing was established by combining the departments of clothing and textiles, home management and family economics, and housing, equipment, and environmental design.

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Statistics (1975-76)

• Purdue enrollment: 28,923
• Home Economics enrollment: 1,797
• Resident fees (academic year): $750

At a time when consumer and family sciences schools across the nation were either being reduced to programs in agriculture or closing their doors, the School of Consumer and Family Sciences at Purdue was thriving. The School’s timely adaptations to social changes can be credited with not only keeping it open but helping it emerge as one of Purdue’s "hot" schools of the 1980s. By the fall of 1989, undergraduate enrollment reached just over 2,300 students. During this time, men were attracted to the School in increasing numbers and comprised up to 25 percent of undergraduate students. In 1987, the School appointed its first male dean, Donald Felker. As the School’s role became more complex and its research increasingly diverse, the quality of family life and the well-being of the individual in society remained the School’s primary concerns.

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Statistics (1985-86)

• Purdue enrollment: 31,987
• Home Economics enrollment: 2,217
• Resident fees (academic year): $1,629

Improving the lives of individuals and families and helping to build a healthy society continued to be an ongoing goal for the School in the 1990s. To do this, the School looked beyond its boundaries to the corporate community and recognized the value in forming strategic partnerships. During this time, all four of the School’s departments developed initiatives directed toward business, and corporations began to play important roles in research, teaching, and outreach. It was also a time to renovate, and both Fowler House and the Child Development and Family Studies Building were extensively remodeled to accommodate new programs such as the Center for Families, established in 1994. Foodservice facilities were remodeled in 1993-94, expanding the John Purdue Room kitchen and redesigning the RHIT Café ("tourism" was added to the department of restaurant, hotel, and institutional management in 1992). Dennis Savaiano was appointed dean in 1995, following the death of Dean Felker in 1992.

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Statistics (1995-96)

• Purdue enrollment: 34,685
• Home Economics enrollment: 1,464
• Resident fees (academic year): $3,056