Timeline History of FCS

  • Benjamin Thompson - "Count Rumford"

    Benjamin Thompson - "Count Rumford"

    Benjamin Thompson (1753-1814) was the first person to label nutrition as a science! Thompson also invented the first range with temperature controls. On top of that, the Rumford Kitchen from the Chicago Fair in 1899 was named after him!
  • Catherine Beecher

    Catherine Beecher

    Catherine Beecher (1800-1878) wrote "A Treatise on Domestic Economics" in 1841. This was the first Family and Consumer Science textbook to be recognized by the Department of Education. She would go on to write a grand total of 33 books.
  • Morrill Act of 1862

    Morrill Act of 1862

    The Morrill Act of 1862 was named after Justin Morrill. This act supported funding colleges that focused on agriculture and mechanics. In total, the act helped 69 colleges in total!
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    Land Grant Universities in Arkansas

    The Land Grant Universities in Arkansas include the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff. These two colleges were granted funding thanks to the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.
  • Carolyn Hunt

    Carolyn Hunt

    Carolyn Hunt (1856-1927) got a BS degree in chemistry from Northwestern University in 1888. She would go on to be appointed a Home Economics professor at the University of Wisconsin in 1903. Hunt would go on to conduct studies on immigrant and ethnic populations in Chicago. She also worked alongside W.O. Atwater and attended the Lake Placid Conference.
  • W.O. Atwater

    W.O. Atwater

    W.O. Atwater (1844-1907) invented the Bomb Calorimeter. Atwater received his PhD in chemistry from Yale. He would go on to write a Farmer's Bulletin in 1894 over nutrition/dietary advice. Atwater was nicknamed "Father of Nutrition" and do extensive research on exercise metabolism.
  • Ellen Swallow Richards

    Ellen Swallow Richards

    Ellen H. Swallow Richards (1842-1911) was the first woman to go to and graduate from MIT. She was heavily involved in chemistry and would go on to scientifically prepare food at the Chicago World's Fair in 1894 from a kitchen called the Rumford Kitchen. Richards gave out the nutrition value as well as the cost per serving to each customer at the Rumford Kitchen. She also started the School Lunch Program in 1894 as well.
  • Lake Placid Conference

    Lake Placid Conference

    Eleven leaders came together at the Lake Placid Conference in New York. Here, the name "Home Economics" becomes the name of the new field.
  • Martha Rensselaer

    Martha Rensselaer

    Martha Rensselaer was a professor at Cornell University. In 1900 Rensselaer developed Cooperative Extension Service Programs at Cornell University. She would also go on to become the president of AAFCS.
  • AHEA

    AHEA

    The AHEA (American Home Economics Association) was created in 1909 by Ellen Richards. The goal of the AHEA is to "[...]improve the quality and standards of individual and family life through education, research, cooperative programs, and public information" (About The American Home Economics Association, n.d.).
  • Smith Lever Act of 1914

    Smith Lever Act of 1914

    The Smith Lever Act of 1914 established a Cooperative Extension Service which coincides with land-grant institutions.
  • Smith Hughes Act of 1917

    Smith Hughes Act of 1917

    The Smith Hughes Act of 1917 was originally known as the National Vocational Education Act. This act enabled federal funding for states that promoted vocational education in agriculture and home economics.
  • Lulu Graves and the ADA

    Lulu Graves and the ADA

    Lulu Graves was the first president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics was originally called the American Dietetics Association. The goal of this group was to help during World War I in order to conserve food as well as aid the people with health and nutrition.
  • Clara Belle Drisdale Williams

    Clara Belle Drisdale Williams

    Clara Belle Williams (1885-1993) was the first African American woman to graduate from New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (present day New Mexico State University). She would go on to marry Jasper Williams in 1917 and have three sons who would become physicians. Williams would teach African American students areas of Home Economics during the day and teach parents during the night.
  • Vocational Education Act of 1963

    The Vocational Education Act replaced the Smith Hughes Act of 1917. This act was implemented by President John F. Kennedy as a way to improve vocational education programs. This act also broadened agriculture as a whole.
  • Vocational Amendment of 1968

    The Vocational Amendment of 1968 altered the original Vocational Education Act of 1963. This amendment overall extended funding for secondary students.
  • Vocational Amendment of 1973

    The Vocational Amendment of 1973 was the first amendment that granted equality for women in the field of education.
  • Vocational Amendment of 1976

    The Vocational Amendment of 1976 was another revision of the original act in 1963 in order to continue the study of Home Economics.
  • Carl Perkins Act

    The Carl Perkins Act in 1984 enables federal funding as a way to help vocational education programs. This act allows those with disabilities and disadvantages equal access in obtaining activities in vocational education.
  • AHEA name change

    AHEA name change

    June 1994 the AHEA voted and change the field name to Family and Consumer Sciences. On top of this change the AHEA changed their name to the AAFCS ~ the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.

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