Canning instruction in the 1940s. Cornelliana MVR to ‘Milkorno’: Fascinating Facts about Human Ecology on the Hill Stories You May Like Fashion Forward: Dazzling Designs Delight in Barton Hall Remembering ‘a Fighter, and an Activist for the Hungry and Poor’ Human Ecology Alum Puts Consumer Products to the Test To mark its centennial, we offer 23 intriguing details about the college—which grew from a series of educational pamphlets By Joe Wilensky This academic year, the College of Human Ecology is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1925. But its origin story began more than a quarter-century earlier—with a series of educational pamphlets that evolved into in-person classes, a department (then known as home economics), a school, and finally a college. At its creation in the early 1900s, the program was one of the first ever established at a private research university—and to this day, Cornell remains the only Ivy with a college devoted to human ecology. From early on, the college stressed lab-based research. In establishing the field on the Hill, Cornell was in the vanguard: home economics would play a huge role in improving American health and hygiene practices. Through rigorous research, it explored topics like vitamins, nutrition, and food storage; household design and efficiency; bacteriology; clothing and textiles; and child development. Over the decades, the field—known, at Cornell, as human ecology since 1969—expanded to embrace such disciplines as genomics, ergonomics, policy analysis, human-centered design, life course studies, and more. Darcy RoseDean Rachel Dunifon (far right) leads a centennial celebration in the Human Ecology Building atrium. Read on for 23 fascinating facts about the College of Human Ecology! It started as a course by mail! The college traces its beginnings to 1900, when horticulture professor Liberty Hyde Bailey hired Martha Van Rensselaer to develop a home economics extension course for rural homemakers. Her bulletins, part of the Cornell Reading Course for Farmers’ Wives, became immensely popular, and she was soon sending them out to thousands of New Yorkers. Itself a pioneer in distance learning, the course turned the latest scientific knowledge into outreach and educational opportunities for women and their families. Its co-founders were Cornell’s first female full professors! In 1907, nutrition researcher Flora Rose joined Van Rensselaer on the Hill. She’d essentially recruited herself, having written to both Cornell and Stanford. “Neither of them had home economics,” she later recalled, “and in my reforming mood, I decided that they should.” Van Rensselaer (left) and Rose in 1914. Home economics was established as an Ag College department and, in 1911, the two became the first women to be named full professors on the Hill—an exception that the faculty allowed (grudgingly, perhaps), given their subject matter. However: Bailey reportedly advised them to skip faculty meetings “for a while at least,” to “let the memory of opposition be forgotten.” It spread knowledge on four wheels! Van Rensselaer traveled regularly to visit farm homes and community clubs to share research and best practices on health, sanitation, child rearing, nutrition, and household management. The forays developed into formal extension trips. A typical outing—pictured here in 1913—included Van Rensselaer, several home demonstration leaders, and a student chauffeur. … And on the rails! Agricultural and home exhibits in railroad cars, dubbed the “Farm and Home Special,” crisscrossed the state to reach rural communities—educating the public about new developments, tools, and home appliances. A train car showcases steam cookers and driers, among other exhibits. “Eight Cars of New Ideas!” trumpeted one newspaper ad, listing exhibits about remodeled farm homes, kitchen equipment, frozen foods, vegetable varieties, dairy barn plans, and more. The curriculum once included ‘practice babies’! For nearly half a century, the college gave students hands-on experience in running a household—and, as at other universities, that included working with “practice babies.” Beginning in 1919, eight women would spend a semester living with a resident advisor in an apartment or house to learn homemaking and “mothercraft”: the art and science of childrearing. (The University Library has film footage from 1938.) A student feeds a baby in one of the practice apartments. The infants—typically orphans who were underweight and in need of nurturing—were raised according to the latest nutritional and child development guidelines, and would be available for adoption after a year. The use of practice babies at universities fell out of fashion by the 1960s, as research underscored the need to bond with a primary caregiver. Meanwhile, advances in women’s rights and roles consigned “practice houses” to the history books. Studies helped make housework easier! A setup for a 1920s photo series on correct posture for housework (Van Rensselaer is at right, holding the backdrop) and filming for an ergonomics study on optimal movements for folding laundry. Early on, researchers conducted work on proper posture for various household tasks, with results shared in magazine articles. Other studies looked at topics like the most ergonomic way to fold laundry. “Learn to use the right joints and muscles for the job and you will feel less strain and fatigue,” a 1942 extension bulletin stated. “Certain muscles will not then be over-worked and stretched.” It’s home to a world-class fashion collection! Fashion + Textile CollectionA formal Japanese kimono, part of a wedding outfit. The Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection was founded by Beulah Blackmore, who arrived in 1915 as the department’s first full-time instructor in clothing and textiles. She began the collection the following year. In 1936, Blackmore took an international tour to learn about dress in different cultural contexts and returned with more than 20 ensembles, plus many accessories. She continued to add to the collection as she led the department for more than a quarter-century. Today, it houses more than 10,000 items of apparel, accessories, and textiles from the 18th century onward. It paved the way for Hotelies! Hotel management students in the home ec cafeteria kitchen in the 1930s. If it weren’t for home economics, there may never have been a Nolan School of Hotel Administration. A department of hotel administration, offering numerous hospitality and related courses, was established within the School of Home Economics in 1922. Hotel administration became a school in the College of Home Economics in 1950—and an independent school four years later. It created Depression-era breakfast cereals! Rose led a research team in the 1930s that developed Milkorno, a mixture of cornmeal and skim milk fortified with calcium and vitamins that could help deliver cheap but effective nutrition to impoverished households. It was soon joined by Milkoato and Milkwheato. The researchers noted that by substituting Milkorno for flour and cornmeal, a family of five could eat on less than $5 a week. A First Lady was a longtime supporter! From the 1920s–40s, Eleanor Roosevelt played an integral role in the college’s development and was one of its most prominent advocates. As the wife of then-NY Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, she rallied support for the bill that made the school a college and used her connections to obtain funding for Martha Van Rensselaer Hall. “To me, it is the most important part of the University,” she once said of the college, “for it concerns the homes of the people of this country.” Roosevelt visited regularly, even as First Lady. She was typically on campus for the annual Farm and Home Week—even participating in its 1937 pageant, taking to the runway in Bailey Hall to model the gown she wore at FDR’s second inaugural ball. The dress is now part of Cornell's fashion collection. Campus buildings are named for its founders! For its first decades, home economics was housed in the old Comstock Hall, (today the Computing and Communications Center) on the corner of the Ag Quad. Van Rensselaer died in 1932, the year before the college’s new building was completed; Rose had it named in her memory. Stories You May Like Fashion Forward: Dazzling Designs Delight in Barton Hall Remembering ‘a Fighter, and an Activist for the Hungry and Poor’ In 2009, Flora Rose House became the final addition to the West Campus Residential Initiative. It had the University’s first female dean! In 1941, political scientist Sarah Blanding took over directorship of the college after Rose’s retirement. The following year, when the position was reconfigured, she became its dean. It had its own nursery school! The nursery school playground in 1940. Beginning in 1925, a “laboratory nursery school” was run by faculty and students. It endured for decades—not only offering daycare for working parents, but serving as a venue to study child behavior, nutrition, and development. (The University Library has a color film of the school from the 1940s.) An alum’s doctorate made history! Kittrell (center) doing field work in a Washington, DC, grocery store. Flemmie Kittrell, PhD ’36, was the first Black woman to earn a doctoral degree at Cornell—and the first to earn a PhD in nutrition in the U.S. She went on to become an internationally known scholar and advocate in her field. A legendary prof helped redefine the social sciences! Urie Bronfenbrenner 1938 taught human development for more than 50 years. He revolutionized his field by urging developmental psychologists to consider multiple environmental factors—cultural, social, economic, and political—when studying behavior and nurturing development, especially in early childhood. Cornell UniversityWith some young colleagues in 1992. Among his many contributions: in the 1960s, Bronfenbrenner helped develop the nationwide Head Start program. It has its own ice cream flavor! The Dairy Bar is marking the centennial with “M’Apple Van Rensselaer,” an apple-maple ice cream with shortbread pieces. An alum was a leading Pyrex exec! Lucy Maltby 1921 was on the faculty at a teachers college when she complained to Corning Glass Works about its new line of Pyrex ovenware—arguing that the items weren’t user-friendly and should be revamped according to home economics principles. Dept. of Archives & Records Mgmt. / Corning, Inc.Signing Pyrex cookbooks. Corning promptly hired Maltby, and over a long career, she had a major influence on Pyrex—including introducing cookware that had handles and measurement markings, could fit side by side in standard ovens, and easily transitioned from stove to table. It grows a garden of natural hues! Tucked between MVR Hall and the Human Ecology Building, the Natural Dye Garden serves as a living classroom—and as a resource of organic colors used by students in textile and fiber science. ProvidedCreated by Prof. Denise Green ’07, the garden features plants like Hopi Dye sunflowers. An alum was a midcentury celebrity! Psychologist and media personality Dr. Joyce Brothers ’47 entered the public eye when she won the top prize on the TV game show “The $64,000 Question” in 1955. She went on to publish nearly a dozen books; write a syndicated advice column that ran in 300 newspapers; play herself in numerous TV cameos; and appear on innumerable talk shows, where she both entertained and advocated for mental health awareness. It has its own imaging facility! simon wheeler Available to researchers universitywide, the college’s MRI scanner is housed in a 3,000 square-foot facility that’s a collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine. Among other uses: its ability to record brain activity via detailed imagery of blood flow can offer insight into emotions, memory, and decision-making. It helps an NYC high school grow hydroponic crops! Through its Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research and Cornell Cooperative Extension, the college teamed up with NYC’s Food and Finance High School in 2015 to create the Cornell Hydroponics, Aquaculture, and Aquaponics Learning Labs. Cornell UniversityThe program's founder, extension resource educator Philson Warner, works with students in 2017. The rooftop labs combine aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (plants grown without soil)—producing foods like tilapia, lettuces, and herbs. A construction snafu made way for a modern building! In 2001, a survey for a planned renovation found that MVR’s north wing—a Brutalist-style addition from the late 1960s—was at risk of collapse due to an error in floor construction. ProvidedThe north wing being demolished in 2005. Over a four-day period, the building was completely emptied, remaining closed for several years before being demolished. In 2011, the 89,000-square-foot Human Ecology Building opened—boasting labs, studios, an atrium, and more. Meanwhile, a years-long, LEED Gold-certified renovation of the original MVR Hall was completed in 2020. And … a current undergrad is an Olympic gold medalist! Originally a member of the Class of ’23, Karen Chen is an elite figure skater who’ll complete her degree in spring 2025—having taken time off from her studies to train for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. provided Chen and Team USA initially won silver in the team competition, but the medal ceremony was postponed due to doping allegations involving a member of the first-place Russian team. Following a long inquiry, Chen and her teammates were awarded gold—receiving their medals in a special ceremony at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. Top: Canning instruction in the 1940s. (All images courtesy of Rare and Manuscript Collections unless otherwise indicated) Published April 1, 2025 Comments Lisa Friedlander, Class of 1983 3 Apr, 2025 Does the College of Human Ecology have a museum where one can see the 1st pamphlets that were sent out as a home economics extension to rural homemakers? Reply Craig Phelps, Class of 1988 13 Apr, 2025 https://digital.library.cornell.edu/collections/hearth There is an extensive collection on the history of Home Economics through the library. Reply Kenneth E. Wing, Class of 1958 13 Apr, 2025 Fascinating! I ate most of my meals during my freshman year at the cafeteria in Martha Van. Inexpensive, nutritious, and delicious! During grad school, morning coffee breaks with fellow Ag Ec grad students from Warren Hall were a daily necessity. Reply Nancy Krauthamer goldberg 13 Apr, 2025 I am so proud to be an alumna that paved the way for so many diverse fields of study at Cornell. Nancy Krauthamer Goldberg ‘57, ‘82 Reply Sara Britting, Class of 1977 13 Apr, 2025 I consider my grandmother, Mary Chipman ‘23, a pioneer. While attending the School of Agriculture, she was one of the first in Home Economics. Well read, well traveled, she promoted education for all, reading the classics, nutrition, protection of nature, women’s rights and the discussion of new ideas. I still can see her in her Japanese silk kimono, which eventually hung on a wall, as it was a lovely piece of art and textile. She was ahead of her time, as was Cornell! Reply Steve Kane, Class of 1972 13 Apr, 2025 Awesome article, especially for those of us who didn’t go to the Hum Ec college! Reply Mark Rust, Class of 1978 13 Apr, 2025 Thanks for this. Informative & entertaining. Reply Steve Schmal, Class of 1962 14 Apr, 2025 A fine, fine article, containing a few things I knew and lots that I didn’t. I was a townie and in addition to being a Cornell grad I was also a “grad” of the College of Home Economics’ nursery school. I was a bossy kid at that age. I told the teachers what I was going to do rather than having them tell me. Reply Candace Kelly Crider, Class of 1965 14 Apr, 2025 My mother (Dorothy Barnes ’40) and I (Candace Kelly ’65) are both proud graduates of the College of Home Economic). It was a great four years of labs and learning. Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Campus & Beyond What’s that Bird? Like Magic, ‘Merlin’ Can Tell You Quizzes & Puzzles Eek! How Much Do You Know About Creepy-Crawly Big Red History? Storytime with Corey After a Century on Hoy Field, Baseball Slides into a New Home