School of Consumer and Family Sciences/75th Anniversary Celebration

1900-1909: Equal Opportunities

Ladies Hall

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."

Timeline

1900	Winthrop E. Stone appointed Purdue president (1900-1921)
1903	Flight by Orville and Wilbur Wright at Kitty Hawk, NC
1905	First drive-in gas station opens in St. Louis
1909	American Home Economics Association established

Statistics (1905-06)

Purdue enrollment: 1,861

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