Earlier this evening, I attended a talk by Dr. Muelenaere on a brief history of Flora Rose, whom our building was named after. She was pivotal towards the development of home economic studies which enriched the lives of many women and families during the early part of the 20th century, where health, environment, and interactions at home weren’t how they are today. I found her work on saving Belgium from the brink of collapse after being invaded by Germany simply remarkable – to have an woman travelling across a war-devastated country, and on foreign soil, alone, and ensuring that the children and women were supported and fed.
I found it interesting that Flora Rose actually utilized quantitative and qualitative assessments during her scientific analyses, and as mentioned by Dr. Muelenaere, she was 15 years ahead of the scientific community in doing so. Despite her contributions, it is unfortunate that she isn’t as well known across the country, but it’s awesome that we have an entire house named after her.
Although I knew of some of the contributions Flora Rose made to Cornell, I had no idea that she also had such a significant impact overseas too. Even doing something like that today would be a huge endeavor, and I can’t begin to imagine what it would have been like for her during that time. Given this, I also think it is surprising that she is not as well known outside of the Cornell community. Why do you think this is? Could it be because her contributions were made on foreign soil, because she was a women during a time where the gender roles for women were significantly more restrictive, or because our society tends to recognize the rich and famous over humanitarians and scholars?