Last week I went to a seminar on nutrition in America by Eileen Keating. I learned numerous interesting facts regarding the history of nutrition in the United States. For instance, I learned that milk was considered the healthiest, most nutritious food a person could consume. Families bought gallons of milk and drank it voraciously. Additionally, I learned that housekeeping was considered a profession and women went to school to take classes on cooking, biology, chemistry, nutrition, etc. in order to learn how to feed their families properly. It is difficult to imagine a world where women go to school to become housewives and no one knows what vitamins are. However, this talk helped me acquire a new perspective on nutrition in America, showing me that these drastic differences in nutritional knowledge occurred only a few years ago.

The great impact this talk made on me derived from my realization of the rapidly changing nature of nutritional intelligence. Just several years ago people thought milk and cereal were the most nutritious breakfast one could eat, and now there are a host of dairy-free people, gluten-free people, and die-hard vegans out there claiming the opposite is true. I have heard so many different theories on what the healthiest diet is. Now it seems that everyone is a protein and lean meats cheerleader. When I went vegetarian for a year, everyone asked me: “but where do you get your protein?” I am curious to see how our conceptions of nutrition will change in the future. For now, I have to thank Eileen for inspiring me to think about food in a different way.

What I enjoyed most about learning about the history of the College of Human Ecology was seeing how its founding and growth was so uniquely “Cornell.” Cornell is an institution dedicated to finding the needs of the time and addressing them in an innovative manner. Fully encompassing this spirit, the College of Human Ecology’s founders reached out to the women of New York State to first understand what they wanted and then to formulate a way to help them attain these goals. The College of Human Ecology started as an effort to make the wives of farmers’ lives better in a time when this matter was not much of a concern. It was truly fascinating to see how Cornell embraced and lived by its commitment to be an institution where any person can pursue any study. As. Dr. Blalock mentioned, Yale University did not even admit women until the late 1960s, yet Cornell University was home to a college essentially dedicated to advancing the study of topics in which women were interested. Also, I think it is really interesting to see how the College of Human Ecology has remained true to its founding purpose of advancing and addressing peoples’ needs. From the study of human development to the study of fashion design, the College of Human Ecology continues to put forth empirical findings and practical applications that better the lives of humans.

Another aspect of the College of Human Ecology’s history that I found both fascinating and inspiring was how women embraced their role in the home and sought to carry out this role to the best of their ability. They studied child-rearing practices, experimented with counter top heights, and found ways to make nutritious and inexpensive meals during the depression. In a time where women’s roles were limited, the women of the College of Human Ecology sought opportunity within this role; in doing so, they expanded this role.

I loved finding out that Flora Rose used a progressive, willful spirit to empower women. Now, living in Rose House is reminder to push boundaries, to be open to new areas of study, and to look to respond to the needs of the community in which I am living. I am definitely glad to know Flora Rose’s story.

I greatly enjoyed Eileen Keating’s talk about the Flora Rose, Martha Rensselaer, and the history of the College of Human Ecology.  Before attending, I had absolutely no idea who Rose house was named for, and it was wonderful to learn about our house’s connection to the history of home economics and women’s education.  That said, however, I’m not particularly well versed in the history of New York nor the history of education.  So, while I can recognize that the contributions to women’s rights and Cornell University made by Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer were immense, I suspect that I lacked the context to properly feel the weight of the photographs I was holding in my hands.

The thing that fascinated me most about the presentation was the fact that we have those photographs.  We have photographs, letters, bulletins, pamphlets, a desk, and all sorts of small or everyday objects that one would generally expect to have been thrown away or lost at some point in the ~85 years since they were produced.  We have those artifacts simply because someone took it upon themselves to save them, and now together those bits and pieces allow us to construct a remarkably detailed and vivid picture of who these women were and what they did.  I would imagine that this is an invaluable resource to anyone who has an academic or personal interest in the history of women’s education, women’s rights, education politics, Cornell history, or New York State history.  This thoroughly impressed upon me the incredibly important role that archives play on the Cornell campus.

This process of continual preservation continues even today, as demonstrated by the request that we send in to any posters, fliers, pictures, or other materials related to student groups on campus.  Archiving now extends into the digital as well, including both University pages and student websites.  In another 85 years, it is unlikely that I am going to be the person whose odds and ends will be trotted out for display at talks and exhibitions.  However, out of population of ~14,500 undergraduates, it seems nearly inevitable that someone on this campus will be.  And for whoever among us becomes a historical marvel, it seems likely that Cornell University will have an unparalleled record of their life and accomplishments, because there are people like Eileen Keating here who go to great lengths to keep and preserve all manner of materials, even those that may seem insignificant in the present day.

I was very excited to hear Eileen Keating, Cornell’s archivist, speak on Flora Rose and Martha van Rensselaer.  I have lived in Flora Rose house for the past couple of months, and unfortunately, I never stopped to really think about the history behind the person whose name is written on the outside of the building and on the wall outside of the dining hall.  I also go to Martha’s to eat often, and I have never thought about the significance that Martha van Rensselaer had on Cornell’s campus.    

I had never previously known of Eleanor Roosevelt’s connection to this campus, and specifically to Flora Rose if it had not been for Ms. Keating.  I also would have never known the achievements that should give Martha van Rensselaer a spot in the Hall of Fame of Women.  I hope to one day see her name there.

One part of the talk that I was already aware of was Human Ecology’s ties to home economics.  I am the daughter of a seven year Cornellian, and my mom constantly recounts many stories of her time at this school to me.  When she was here, the college of Human Ecology still mostly revolved around home economics, since my mother attended this university during the 1960’s.  I just never thought also of how far back the college of Human Ecology goes, and I am glad it was in the very capable hands of Martha van Rensselaer.  

This week we welcomed Eileen Keating from the Cornell archives. I share the sentiment that this was one of the most interesting Rose Cafes that I had been to, since I got to learn so much about Cornell’s history that I had honestly not previously cared, nor though to learn about. After learning about the contributions that Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer made to further women’s rights and education, I now hold more pride in being a Rose resident. However the most interesting part of the talk was learning about the College of Human Ecology’s history, originally the College of Home Economics. The fact that Van Rensselaer created a method which allowed for women to get access to higher education at no cost speaks about Van Rensselaer’s influence, in addition to sheds light on her contribution to the women’s rights movement.

I also found the artifacts that Eileen Keating passed around in the cafe very engaging. She gave us a glimpse into how the College of Home Economics used to be. Some of the documents showed the curriculum, which included how to operate efficiently and aid women on farms.

Overall, I thought that this talk was incredibly fascinating. I had a vague understanding that Cornell was one of the earlier colleges which offered admissions to women, but before this talk that idea remained vague. After hearing about the specific accomplishments of this school with regards to advancing women’s rights, I am even more proud to be a Cornellian.

This semester’s first Rose Cafe speaker was Eileen Keating, the archivist for the Human Ecology school at Cornell. It was amazing to finally have a female speaker and to also specifically have her talk about something so relevant yet so unknown to most Cornellians and Rose Scholars- the history of the College of Hum Ecology and Flora Rose and how the school began with a focus on Home Economics in CALS. I thought this was extremely interesting and admired how relevant it was to Cornell’s motto “any person, any study” as it was inclusive and empowering for women.

The talk raised an interesting question of whether a Home Economics course should be required for all students. Considering that Cornell has so many other graduation requirements such as the swim test, taking PE classes, and freshman writing seminars which intend to develop crucial life skills such as physical activity, health and wellbeing and vital communication and writing skills, I don’t see why there shouldn’t be a required Home Econ course. As an international student who grew up with maids, I actually struggled a lot during my first college semester with basic “adult” tasks like doing laundry, cooking, staying organized and cleaning my room. I realize that a lot of domestic students are brought up learning how to do those things, however I think there should at least be a basic seminar, such as perhaps a 1 credit course with biweekly speaker events. At the very least, if not mandatory, there should at least be some sort of optional course. I know the Hotel School has a Personal Finance class which teaches students important basic life skills like understanding what a 401k is, how to pay taxes, social security information and just personal budgeting. Therefore, it would make sense for there to be something similar for incoming freshman to learn how to do basic chores and manage their lives away from home through a Home Economics course. I am undecided about whether it should be mandatory or not but there should at least be an option, in my opinion.

Last week, the Rose Scholars had the pleasure of having Eileen Keating, the University Records Manager and the archivist for the College of Human Ecology, came and gave us history about Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer. I was familiar with the name Flora Rose given that I have been a Rose scholar for two years now, but I never knew about who she was as a women nor her contributions to Cornell. I also had no idea that there were Cornell archives that could be accessed by students to further find out about the history of Cornell. From the very beginning, I realized that this would be an interesting talk. Van Rensselaer led the creation of the College of Home Economics and helped women in need of financial aid pay for admission with the help of fellow contributors. Both Rose and Van Rensselaer also had close ties with Eleanor Roosevelt, which helped them in expand the popularity and exposure of this college’s existence. Establishing this college during a time when women were recently being admitted in universities is something that women of today will forever be grateful for.  

Home Economics is something that most students today would not consider majoring in, giving its implication that it focuses on needs of the house.  I, however, believe that a course about this topic would greatly benefit all students in learning about proper health and hygienic care. Many students do not know how to wash their own dishes, use a vacuum cleaner, or do laundry until the are forced into it in college and usually do not understand the process until a few articles of clothing get ruined. If one does not know how to take care of themselves, then how could they possibly expect to care for others in the future. This talk was very inspiring in how essential both Rose and Van Rensselaer felt it was for women to be given an opportunity to further their education and learn at the same level as men.

This talk was very inspirational and makes me feel even more proud to be attending a school that stays so true to its motto, Any Student, Any Study. I hope that in the future there will be more talks about educating students on the history of Cornell, for understanding the humble beginnings that establishments come from helps students appreciate the institution they are lucky to be a part of.

Last Wednesday, Eileen Keating came to discuss the history of the College of Human Ecology. Being a student in Human Ecology, this was a topic I was thoroughly interested in. I knew that the college was originally a college of Home Economics but I did not know the types of classes or research that actually occurred early on in the college’s history. It was interesting to hear how inspiring Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose were to many women. It is also interesting to learn about how the old majors translated into new ones.

I think that it is important to learn about the founders and early happening of the different colleges. Cornell’s history is filled with influential people and I find that fascinating. I also found the relationship between Martha Van Rensselaer and Eleanor Roosevelt to be interesting. They were both very influential people and having the connection to Eleanor Roosevelt proved to be very useful for the college. Overall, I thought this talk was very interesting.

Last Wednesday, the archivist for Cornell’s College of Human Ecology, Eileen Keating, spoke with us students about the history of the College of Human Ecology and its connection with our house’s namesake, Flora Rose. The College of Human Ecology began in 1907 as the Department of Home Economics within CALS. It was an important educational pathway for farmer’s wives in the rural areas of central NY.

Hearing that there was a whole department devoted to Home Economics made me think back to middle school, during which I took one required Home Economics class. In the course, we baked chocolate oat cookies, made pizza, and learned to do the laundry and use a sewing machine. I wish that this class would have been made mandatory in late high school or early college, when we would be closer to independence, adulthood, and self-reliance, rather than in middle school. As college students, we need to know how to do laundry, cook our own meals, organize, and balance our budgets. In middle school, we are so reliant on our parents that I don’t think that we retain many lessons about how to live and thrive on our own, because these skills seem irrelevant and unnecessary to our dependent younger selves.

Therefore, I am inspired by Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose, who established the School of Home Economics. I think that we should be required to take at least one Home Economics class in high school or college, when the skills and lessons taught would be more relevant to us.

I remember writing a somewhat scathing blog post about the last Rose Cafe of first semester, noting that there had only been one female speaker throughout the entire semester. I was more surprised than actually offended, because I doubted it was an intentional slight, but I am very pleased that the first speaker this year was not only a woman, but a woman who spoke about women’s issues.

Whenever I hear about the injustices women faced in the past just for daring to desire equal rights, I feel blindsided. It’s easy to feel comfortable because of one’s current reality, and in my personal life I have never faced staunch sexism. But hearing the stories of Flora Rose and Martha van Rensselaer reminded me of that not-so-distant past where women were not even allowed to pursue education. Martha’s story in particular moved me, because she was one of the first people to directly appeal to women in the public about their education. Her bulletins “Advice for Farmer’s Wives” contained information and lessons that the women in the area had directly asked to be informed about, and for the first time in many of these women’s lives, they were able to learn information directly relevant to their needs.

These bulletins grew into a few courses on Home Economics, which grew into a department, and eventually a college in the university. This process had been overseen largely by women, notably Martha and Flora Rose. Listening to this story and the vast time span that it encompassed made me wonder how these women had the patience to wait for equality, but I understand that it was necessary. And it’s not like those two women were standing idly by; they were actively pushing back against stereotypes and fighting for women’s education. And it made a huge difference. I am grateful to these women, and all of the women who fought for women’s rights–so that I may now be treated so equally that I occasionally forget that women used to be considered “lesser” human beings.

It was really great to have Eileen Keating, the archivist for the College of Human Ecology, come share with us some truly important history of Cornell University during the Rose Cafe. She discussed the impact that Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer had in helping to make Cornell a more inclusive place. The two were big proponents of the field of home economics and believed that it could serve as a path to higher education for women. Through various quotes and accounts that Eileen Keating shared, one thing that really struck me was just how passionate these two amazing women were about promoting this movement and field.I also found it particularly cool that these two women had a pretty close relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt. Having this connection allowed the movement to gain further traction and prominence. Their efforts eventually led to the development of the College of Human Ecology!

Attending the talk definitely allowed me to appreciate the importance of the College of Human Ecology even further. It is clear that the home economics movement significantly impacted the mission and direction of this college, as its array of interesting majors, such as nutritional science and fiber science, were certainly inspired by the efforts of this movement led by Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer.

Though I have enjoyed many of the Rose Scholars events which I have attended, last week’s talk on Flora Rose and Martha van Rennselaer stands out as the best, for the simple reason that no other event has taught me as much about the history of Cornell, or of Rose House in particular.

The stated intent for the building of West Campus was to create residential communities such as exist at Yale and other universities. Honestly, I do not feel we are succeeding quite yet. I live in Rose, but I don’t really feel like a part of Rose House, more so than any other part of West Campus. The Rose pride is lacking. I feel like our houses have yet to develop unique identities-something in which we, as residents, could be invested.

Before last week, I did not know who Flora Rose was, or what she had done to merit having a West Campus house named after her. Today, I can say I have a little more pride in Rose House, knowing who we are named for. I admire Flora Rose’s commitment to education, her diligence, and her accomplishments. It is fairly amazing to know everything that she did-including that she was a regular correspondent of Eleanor Roosevelt-and to also know that almost no one has heard of her.

It was also fascinating to hear about the history of the College of Human ecology. I had always found the mix of disciplines contained within it-human development, nutrition, public health, fiber sciences-somewhat arbitrary, but now, knowing that the College originated as a school of home economics, it all makes sense. It is especially interesting to know that the College was, for a period, exclusively staffed by and attended by women.

After hearing this talk, I am resolved to visit the Cornell archives. I have had several opportunities to visit, all of which I have passed up- which I now regret. It is my hope that I have the opportunity, during my tenure at Cornell, to conduct research in our archives. It is also my hope that we will have more events that focus on the history of Cornell.

While I have been at Cornell for almost three years now, and Flora Rose House for two years, this week’s Rose café made me realize how little I actually know about Cornell history and the legacy of Flora Rose in particular. Eileen Keating from the Cornell archives gave a very interesting summary of the development of the College of Human Ecology which started back in the early 1900s as a department of home economics overseen by Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose, who were Cornell’s first female faculty. I especially liked how Ms. Keating tied this Cornell history into a broader national context by discussing, for instance, how the women’s friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt was instrumental in their obtaining of funds and recognition for the school.

For me the most interesting aspect of the talk was the collection of artifacts and documents that Ms. Keating had brought with her to display, from photos of the early faculty to an actual desk commissioned by Eleanor Roosevelt for Martha Van Rensselaer. She also passed around a reproduction of a pamphlet published in 1901 by Van Rensselaer giving home economics tips for farmers’ wives. These tips ranged from replacing cakes and pies in the family diet with fruit, to how to construct an efficient icebox, to taking time at the end of the day to watch the sunset. These artifacts really added to my understanding of the talk and made me want to go over to the archives soon to see what other interesting pieces of history they have.

I guess I should be a bit ashamed of my lack of knowledge of the contributions of Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer-considering I live in Flora Rose and am part of the College of Human Ecology. Prior to this cafe, I really had no idea what the role of these two influential women had been for Cornell University. I mean, I had browsed through some information on Flora Rose in the past, but I never knew of the relationship between Rose and Van Rensselaer.

It was exciting to learn how dedicated Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose were to the advancement of women’s education. Not only did Van Rensselaer lead the creation of the College of Home Economics, but she also managed to offer free tuition-with the help of friends- for the women attending. Imagine, a college already offering financial age during a time when other universities and colleges were only beginning to accept women. And to even further drive your interest, Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose had close ties to Eleanor Roosevelt! What a small world. It was with the help of Eleanor Roosevelt, in fact, that Van Rensselaer was able to expand the college.

Even more to my surprise, Van Rensselaer and Rose received a working desk as a gift from Eleanor Roosevelt, which we were lucky enough to see ‘in the flesh’. Eileen Keating, our guest speaker, also brought along some photos of the women and the college (see photo below).

In sum, this was only a tidbit of Cornell’s history. I would definitely encourage you to explore Cornell’s history while you have the chance! Stop by Kroch library, or maybe take a historic tour of Cornell when they’re offered. I’ll also take on the challenge myself!

Ms. Keating, an archivist for the College of Human Ecology, gave an interesting talk about a certain aspect of Cornell history regarding Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer and the College of Home Economics. It was quite fascinating to learn how much they contributed to empowering women and expanding opportunities to farmer wives. It is evident that Cornell has been quite progressive in the role of women at the educational institute and New York at large; in comparison, many comparable universities didn’t even admit female students. Flora Rose was a pioneer in  academia for home economics. One of the more impactful things she did was send out a bulletin for Farmer wives on how to improve their QoL, tips for a more efficient household and more. I saw the pamphlet and it was quite impressive. The College of Home Economics was an impressive endeavor and really enriched the lives of women because it allowed for easy access to higher education in applied sciences, child rearing and more, especially with no tuition costs! Rose and Rensselaer had connections to many famous women, particularly Eleanor Roosevelt, budding from their interactions when FDR was governor of NY.  Rose even had a international role when she went to Belgium to organize food relief efforts there.

History is always important to know and it was certainly a treat to learn about the dorm that I am staying in. I was astounded when Ms. Keating mentioned just how large and extensive our record collections is at Cornell, especially from an international perspective. This fact was driven home when Prof. Blalock mentioned how he brought colleagues from Indonesia and was able to show them documents that were quite old and were something the Indonesians had never seen nor had back at their historical collections. I am now seriously interested in spending a day at these collections and learn about history! Aside from that, I am proud Cornell played a fundamental role in improving women education at a time when it wasn’t the norm. Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer were certainly quite influential and crucial to the development of the university!

I thought this week’s Rose Cafe event was very enlightening and inspiring. The guest speaker was Ms. Eileen Keating, who is the University Records Manager and the archivist for the College of Human Ecology. She gave a talk about the history of the college, as well as the close ties between Martha Van Rensselaer, Flora Rose, and Eleanor Roosevelt. It was so fascinating to hear the actual letters exchanged by the three of them as they discussed the home economics movement and their passion for politics and social reform for women.

I do have to admit, when I first learned that the College of Human Ecology was originally a women’s college for home economics, I did a bit of inward eye-rolling and thought to myself of course women were expected to be involved only in domestic affairs and Cornell University only perpetuated this belief. However, I soon realized that this was not the case at all; in fact it was the very opposite. The three women believed the term “home” referred not only to the physical house of a family, but also to the community, the nation, and the world. The home economics program provided an access for rural farmers’ wives and daughters to pursue higher education with no cost of tuition. Home economics was an interdisciplinary subject with a focus on science and applied sciences in the topics of child rearing, food nutrition, textiles, and management of family and communities affairs. For example, one project was the testing of toasters and this is actually a project in consumer research. In reality, this program was incredibly progressive at a time when many colleges would not even admit female students.

Another point that Eleanor Roosevelt, Flora Rose, and Martha Van Rensselaer really emphasized was the importance of women to be politically informed. For example, they were actively engaged in the suffrage movement. In terms of current events, it’s incredible to see women today being politically active and organizing protests like the Women’s March, which will surely be remembered as a historic event. Women like Eleanor Roosevelt, Flora Rose, and Martha Van Rensselaer are great inspirations for a whole generation of women’s rights activists.

I found Eileen Keating’s lecture on the history of Cornell’s College of Human Ecology to be extremely informative, mostly because I had known next to nothing about the college coming into the Rose Cafe. I certainly had not expected the story of the college to be so closely tied to women’s rights and women’s work.

Originally the Department of Home Economics, the College of Human Ecology was created through the collaboration of two women, Martha van Rensselaer and Flora Rose, and was expressly developed to fill a need for farmer’s wives. It maintained an entirely female student population and an all-female faculty. Men were only allowed into the Department of Human Ecology when the School of Hotel Administration was introduced into the department.

The day before the Rose Cafe, in my engineering probability and statistics class, the professor compared the average salaries of graduates of Cornell’s colleges. The College of Human Ecology had the lowest salary by a significant margin, $6000/yr lower than the next lowest, that of the College of Architecture. This is quite surprising for a college that houses a common Pre-Law major, Policy and Management, as well as the common Pre-Med majors Human Development, Global Public Health Sciences, and Human Biology, Health, & Society. I would expect a college housing majors related to the potentially high-paying fields of medicine and law to produce graduates with high salaries.

I suspect that the college’s relationship to gender could be a contributor to the low numbers. Women’s work and women’s fields have historically been looked down upon and undervalued, and this could have had a lasting effect on the salaries in the fields that the college focuses on. This could also have affected the College of Human Ecology itself, resulting in it receiving less respect and funding than it deserves. Even now, the student population of the college remains mostly female, so the lower salaries could also be a result of the gender pay disparity that still exists today. Interestingly enough, the School of Hotel Administration, the only aspect of the college that was never all-female, has a starting salary more than $9000/yr higher than that of Human Ecology.

Last Wednesday at Rose Cafe, Eileen Keating, University Records Manager, spoke to us about Cornell’s history: in particular, the origins of the College of Human Ecology from Eleanor Roosevelt’s campaign for home economics education for women, resulting in Cornell as an emerging leader of the movement and in the construction MVR hall as we know today.

Despite being in my third year at Cornell, I admittedly do not know too much about Cornell’s history, or how certain colleges came into being. It was fascinating to hear stories about correspondences between Martha Van Rensselaer, Flora Rose, and Eleanor Roosevelt, women who played prominent roles in increasing the empowerment of women through education in home economics. Their activism and passion would change the lives and opportunities available to women across America. It is mind boggling to think that not too many years ago, the social order was completely different, of the little opportunities available to women and the rarity of education.

In addition, it was nice to put put a face to the names spoken by West Campus residents everyday as Keating passed around pictures of Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose together at Cornell, the benefactors/names of our residential buildings. I was also not fully aware of our rare manuscripts library, housing treasured artifacts from all across the nation. As Cornell students, we ought to learn more about the rich history of our school, stemming from a visionary leader during a period of social change and reform for women. Keating’s talk has inspired me to further explore the collection this semester.

It seems that many students here at Cornell don’t know very much about Cornell’s history at all. It’s made especially obvious when we have presentations such as the one presented by Ms. Keating at this semester’s first Rose Cafe talk. I am confident in saying much of the information we heard about was new to most of us. I was not even aware of the size of the rare manuscripts library, even though I had walked around in the library itself and seen the exhibits. Ms. Keating made a comment about how not many people are aware of how much we could do with the archives, and I wonder if it would help to publicize the facilities within the libraries more on campus.

We even learned of connections between Flora Rose, Martha van Rensselaer, and Eleanor Roosevelt, which was a very captivating story especially as presented passionately by Ms. Keating. I think it would help a great deal if information on the history of Cornell were presented to new students, connecting them to the history of the place and also familiarizing them with the legacies of those who came before them. From the letters and speeches of these important figures in Cornell’s (and the United States’) history, it seems that there are a lot of passionate sentiments not being heard. I’d like to see the rare manuscripts library expand its outreach further through the Cornell community to first build up its image to Cornell’s own students, and then continue to expand with the support of our community behind it.

The first Rose Café of the semester focused on the history of the College of Human Ecology and two of its most notable faculty members, Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose. During the discussion, I learned about Farm and Home Week, an annual event at Cornell during the middle of last century.

Following the discussion, I called my grandma and grandpa to get their take on Farm and Field Week. My grandma said that the event was discontinued after her sophomore year. She said that as a student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences the event was memorable. On the other hand, my grandpa was a student in the College of Arts and Sciences and said that he never became involved in the Farm and Home Week. I enjoyed hearing my grandparent’s memory of some of the events discussed at the Rose Café.

I was also interested to hear about how the home economics classes were free for women in New York State. My grandma also didn’t pay tuition, but paid $62.50 (about $530 in 2017 dollars) in fees. I would assume that the home economics students also incurred some fees, but it is commendable that the state could offer high quality education to its citizens at such an affordable price.

Lastly, I was interest to learn about the connection between Flora Rose and Elenor Roosevelt. I had been unaware of this portion of Cornell history. I thought it was particularly interesting that Elenor Roosevelt served Flora Rose’s nutritionally enriched cereals at The White House. I was made aware of the nutritionally enriched cereals from the sign outside of Rose House, but I did not realize that the cereal was served by Elenor Roosevelt at The White House.

Overall, I enjoyed learning more about Cornell history mostly because I enjoy talking with my grandparents about the history and hearing them reminisce about their time at Cornell.