In the first Rose Café of the semester, Eileen Keating came to give a talk about the history of the College of Human Ecology, more specifically the roles Martha Van Rensselaer, Flora Rose, and Eleanor Roosevelt played in the higher education of women. The entire talk was a really interesting history of something I had never known about. Learning about this lesser known history is really interesting to me, and I know there was a class Cornell offered about the history of Cornell (I believe it was AMST 2001), but that wasn’t offered this semester. For instance, I had no idea the hotel school used to be a part of the old home economics program. Also, just a disclaimer, the information I was able to jot down may not be completely accurate, but I nonetheless found the talk very interesting.
Bailey, the first dean of the ag school understood that there was no one meeting the needs of farmers wives and Martha was elected school commissioner. The involvement of farmer’s wives began with the bulletins that encouraged women to write back with their thoughts and concerns. A commemorative printing of one such bulletin was passed around, and including interesting suggestions such as using canine to churn butter, or certain things to keep in mind when organizing a kitchen. In 1907, the department of home economics was created in the ag school, and Flora Rose, who had a background in Nutrition, was brought in. In 1919, the school of home economics was formed.
Thinking about, the timing of everything makes sense, though it’s always interesting to really contextualize how historical events happen at the same time as each other. The reality of being a woman in America has drastically changed in the past century, and MVR and Flora Rose definitely impacted type of higher educational opportunities for women. Though they definitely had connections with politicians, notably Eleanor Roosevelt, they were careful not to be too political in the realm of women’s suffrage. Keating also shared a letter from Susan B. Anthony, who was interested in the fact that there was a program successful at getting the interest of women to participate.
At some point, Martha gets in touch with Eleanor Roosevelt, in an effort to lobby the state for a college of home economics. When it was first established, it was really meant for farmer’s daughters, as there were no tuition costs for NY state and it emphasized applied sciences such as child rearing. When the college wanted a new building (they used to be based out of the CCC building), Martha asked Eleanor for one million dollars in funding. At the time, FDR provided the funding, and since this was around the time of the Great Depression, the building was able to be bigger than originally planned.
Apparently, the building was initially supposed to be named after Flora Rose, but Martha unexpectedly passed around the same time, and the building now bears her name. Eleanor Roosevelt, who had maintained good relations with Martha and Flora lobbied the president of Cornell for Flora to be named dean of the school. It wasn’t until the West Campus building we know now was dedicated to Flora Rose.
I found Eleanor’s involvement with this whole history was very interesting. From early on, a farm and home week was hosted as a sort of gathering for women to learn about home economics. Eleanor attended every year from 1928 to Flora’s retirement in 1940. She even tried to serve Flora’s fortified cereals and recipes at the White House, though FDR did not eat them.
There were so many interesting things brought up about MVR and Flora Rose that I don’t think I would have heard about elsewhere. Keating mentioned that there was a documentary of Martha’s work made, and I will definitely go back to watch it at some point. There is clearly a lot about the history of the university that I just don’t know because I haven’t been exposed to it. I think everyone should definitely take the chance to learn more about the history of Cornell, because I am always amazed to learn about how the setting I am currently in was set up.