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Morrill Act of 1862
This act was named after its sponsor, Vermont Congressman, Justin Smith Morrill. It provided states with land-grants to fund the establishment of colleges, leading to the development of many of the public colleges and universities in the United States. -
Land-Grant University
After the Morrill Act of 1862, many colleges were developed. However, the first college to develop as a result of this act was Kansas State University in 1863. The land-grant universities that we currently have in Arkansas are the University of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. -
W.O. Atwater
W.O. Atwater, who is also known as the "Father of Nutrition", studied calorimetry. It was through these studies that he, along with the help of E.B. Rose, invented the bomb calorimeter, which was finished in 1897. The bomb calorimeter helped to prove the law of conservation of energy in humans, and it made it possible to figure out how many calories each food contains, and this process is still used by many in the field of nutrition today. -
Lake Placid Conference
The Lake Placid Conference of 1899 was held at the Lake Placid Club in New York. It was during this first conference that the leaders gathered and settled on the name "home economics" for their field of study. -
Caroline Hunt
In 1903, Caroline Hunt became the first professor of home economics at the University of Wisconsin. It was her strong beliefs regarding this field of study that encouraged her to participate in multiple Lake Placid conferences, and she later wrote a book titled, "The Life of Ellen H. Richards", in 1912. -
Ellen Richards
Ellen Richards was a very influential woman regarding the history of Family and Consumer Sciences. In 1908, she founded and became the first president of the American Home Economics Association, later known as AAFCS, or the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. Before this, Ellen Richards did so much more for this field of study, such as being the first woman to attend MIT, and proving how this field is so much more than just "cooking and sewing" - there is a science involved. -
Smith-Lever Act of 1914
This act established a Cooperative Extensive Service with land-grant institutions, creating a partnership between agriculture colleges and the USDA with hopes that people would become more informed in areas such as agriculture, home economics, leadership, and so much more. -
Martha Rensselaer
Martha Rensselaer became the president of the AAFCS in 1914. Before this, she was also a professor and the head of the Department of Home Economics at Cornell University, and she also attended the Lake Placid Conference. It was these actions and accomplishments of hers that later led to her being appointed the president of the AAFCS. -
Smith-Hughes Act of 1917
This act provided federal funds to the states to promote vocational education in areas of agriculture, industrial trades, and home economics. -
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
The AND, or Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, was founded in 1917 with hopes of educating more in the science of nutrition and the art of feeding others. -
Adoption of Betty Lamp
The American Home Economics Association adopted the Betty Lamp as a symbol for the association. The lamp derived its name from the German words "besser" or "bete," which means "to make better" Source: https://cehs.unl.edu/images/nafcs/THE%20BETTY%20LAMP.pdf -
American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences
In 1994, the AHEA, or American Home Economics Association, voted to change the name of the profession from "Home Economics" to "Family and Consumer Sciences", and the association became known as AAFCS, or American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.
