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Martha Van Rensselaer was born in Randolph, New York on June 21, 1864.
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Van Rensselaer was elected school commissioner of Cattaraugus County, New York, a position that was normally held by men.
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Liberty Hyde Bailey invited Van Rensselaer to organize an extension program for New York's rural women.
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Due to the success from Van Resselaer's extension program for New York State's rural women, Cornell decided to offer full-time home economics courses.
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Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose were invited to head the Department of Home of Economics at Cornell University.
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Van Rensselaer was voted as the president of the American Home Economics Association.
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During World War I, Van Rensselaer directed the Home Conservation Division of the United States Food Administration.
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Martha Van Rensselaer was the first state club leader in 1915 and was influential in the development of literature on nutrition and other home economics-related areas used in early 4-H programming for girls.
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During her time at Cornell her duties expanded when the Cornell trustees authorized the establishment of a School of Home Economics.
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Co-wrote "A Manual of Home Making", a widely read text on home management, with Flora Rose and Helen Canon.
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In 1926, Van Rensselaer became the home economics editor of the "Delineator", a popular women's magazine that reached over two million readers. She regularly wrote for the "Ladies Home Journal", "Children's Magazine", and "Boys and Girls".
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Miss Martha Van Rensselaer attended the League of Women Voters, which was a group of prominent female leaders of social reform. This meeting took place in New York at Elanor's Roosevelt's home in Hyde Park.
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At the age of 58, Martha Van Rensselaer was voted by the National League of Women as one of America's twelve most influential women.
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Van Rensselaer participated in the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection, which has set a critical Progressive Era agenda for youth health, social policy, and education.
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Van Rensselaer participated in the President's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership, which advocated moving poverty-stricken urban workers out of the cities into smaller, allegedly healthier rural communities.
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Martha Van Rensselaer died of cancer at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City at the age of 68.
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Martha Van Rensselaer is the co-founder of the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University. She will be inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame during the National 4-H Conference ceremonies.
