{"id":49708,"date":"2025-04-01T17:14:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T21:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=49708"},"modified":"2025-04-02T14:28:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T18:28:59","slug":"fascinating-facts-human-ecology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/fascinating-facts-human-ecology\/","title":{"rendered":"MVR to ‘Milkorno’: Fascinating Facts about Human Ecology on the Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To mark its centennial, we offer 23 intriguing details about the college\u2014which grew from a series of educational pamphlets <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Joe Wilensky<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

This academic year, the College of Human Ecology<\/a> is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1925. But its origin story began more than a quarter-century earlier\u2014with a series of educational pamphlets that evolved into in-person classes, a department (then known as home economics), a school, and finally a college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At its creation in the early 1900s, the program was one of the first ever established at a private research university\u2014and to this day, Cornell remains the only Ivy with a college devoted to human ecology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"undated
From early on, the college stressed lab-based research.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through rigorous research, it explored topics like vitamins, nutrition, and food storage; household design and efficiency; bacteriology; clothing and textiles; and child development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the decades, the field\u2014known, at Cornell, as human ecology since 1969\u2014expanded to embrace such disciplines as genomics, ergonomics, policy analysis, human-centered design, life course studies, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Human
Darcy Rose<\/figcaption>
Dean Rachel Dunifon (far right) leads a centennial celebration in the Human Ecology Building atrium.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Read on for 23 fascinating facts about the College of Human Ecology!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

It started as a course by mail!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her bulletins, part of the Cornell Reading Course for Farmers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Its co-founders were Cornell\u2019s first female full professors!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1907, nutrition researcher Flora Rose joined Van Rensselaer on the Hill. She\u2019d essentially recruited herself, having written to both Cornell and Stanford. \u201cNeither of them had home economics,\u201d she later recalled, \u201cand in my reforming mood, I decided that they should.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Martha
Van Rensselaer (left) and Rose in 1914.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u2014an exception that the faculty allowed (grudgingly, perhaps), given their subject matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However: Bailey reportedly advised them to skip faculty meetings \u201cfor a while at least,\u201d to \u201clet the memory of opposition be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It spread knowledge on four wheels!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Martha
A typical outing\u2014pictured here in 1913\u2014included Van Rensselaer, several home demonstration leaders, and a student chauffeur.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

\u2026 And on the rails!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Agricultural and home exhibits in railroad cars, dubbed the \u201cFarm and Home Special,\u201d crisscrossed the state to reach rural communities\u2014educating the public about new developments, tools, and home appliances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"interior
A train car showcases steam cookers and driers, among other exhibits.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEight Cars of New Ideas!\u201d trumpeted one newspaper ad, listing exhibits about remodeled farm homes, kitchen equipment, frozen foods, vegetable varieties, dairy barn plans, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The curriculum once included \u2018practice babies\u2019!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For nearly half a century, the college gave students hands-on experience in running a household\u2014and, as at other universities, that included working with \u201cpractice babies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning in 1919, eight women would spend a semester living with a resident advisor in an apartment or house to learn homemaking and \u201cmothercraft\u201d: the art and science of childrearing. (The University Library has film footage<\/a> from 1938.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a
A student feeds a baby in one of the practice apartments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The infants\u2014typically orphans who were underweight and in need of nurturing\u2014were raised according to the latest nutritional and child development guidelines, and would be available for adoption after a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s rights and roles consigned \u201cpractice houses\u201d to the history books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Studies helped make housework easier!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"part<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"a<\/figure>\n
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.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLearn to use the right joints and muscles for the job and you will feel less strain and fatigue,\u201d a 1942 extension bulletin stated. \u201cCertain muscles will not then be over-worked and stretched.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s home to a world-class fashion collection!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Fashion + Textile Collection<\/figcaption>
A formal Japanese kimono, part of a wedding outfit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n

The Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection<\/a> was founded by Beulah Blackmore, who arrived in 1915 as the department\u2019s first full-time instructor in clothing and textiles. She began the collection the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It paved the way for Hotelies!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"hotel
Hotel management students in the home ec cafeteria kitchen in the 1930s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If it weren\u2019t for home economics, there may never have been a Nolan School of Hotel Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A department of hotel administration, offering numerous hospitality and related courses, was established within the School of Home Economics<\/a> in 1922. Hotel administration became a school in the College of Home Economics in 1950\u2014and an independent school four years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It created Depression-era breakfast cereals!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"product<\/figure>
\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was soon joined by Milkoato and Milkwheato.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers noted that by substituting Milkorno for flour and cornmeal, a family of five could eat on less than $5 a week.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

A First Lady was a longtime supporter!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From the 1920s\u201340s, Eleanor Roosevelt played an integral role in the college\u2019s development and was one of its most prominent advocates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo me, it is the most important part of the University,\u201d she once said of the college, \u201cfor it concerns the homes of the people of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roosevelt visited regularly, even as First Lady. She was typically on campus for the annual Farm and Home Week\u2014even participating in its 1937 pageant, taking to the runway in Bailey Hall to model the gown she wore at FDR\u2019s second inaugural ball.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Eleanor
The dress is now part of Cornell’s fashion collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Campus buildings are named for its founders!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Rensselaer died in 1932, the year before the college\u2019s new building was completed; Rose had it named in her memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, Flora Rose House<\/a> became the final addition to the West Campus Residential Initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It had the University\u2019s first female dean!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Sarah<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1941, political scientist Sarah Blanding took over directorship of the college after Rose\u2019s retirement. The following year, when the position was reconfigured, she became its dean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It had its own nursery school!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"children
The nursery school playground in 1940.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Beginning in 1925, a \u201claboratory nursery school\u201d was run by faculty and students. It endured for decades\u2014not only offering daycare for working parents, but serving as a venue to study child behavior, nutrition, and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The University Library has a color film<\/a> of the school from the 1940s.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

An alum\u2019s doctorate made history!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Flemmie
Kittrell (center) doing field work in a Washington, DC, grocery store.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Flemmie Kittrell, PhD \u201936<\/a>, was the first Black woman to earn a doctoral degree at Cornell\u2014and the first to earn a PhD in nutrition in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She went on to become an internationally known scholar and advocate in her field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

A legendary prof helped redefine the social sciences!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Urie Bronfenbrenner 1938<\/a> taught human development for more than 50 years. He revolutionized his field by urging developmental psychologists to consider multiple environmental factors\u2014cultural, social, economic, and political\u2014when studying behavior and nurturing development, especially in early childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"professor
Cornell University<\/figcaption>
With some young colleagues in 1992.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Among his many contributions: in the 1960s, Bronfenbrenner helped develop the nationwide Head Start program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It has its own ice cream flavor!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Dairy Bar is marking the centennial with \u201cM\u2019Apple Van Rensselaer,\u201d an apple-maple ice cream with shortbread pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

An alum was a leading Pyrex exec!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u2014arguing that the items weren\u2019t user-friendly and should be revamped according to home economics principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lucy
Dept. of Archives & Records Mgmt. \/ Corning, Inc.<\/figcaption>
Signing Pyrex cookbooks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Corning promptly hired Maltby, and over a long career, she had a major influence on Pyrex\u2014including introducing cookware that had handles and measurement markings, could fit side by side in standard ovens, and easily transitioned from stove to table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It grows a garden of natural hues!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tucked between MVR Hall and the Human Ecology Building, the Natural<\/a> Dye Garden<\/a> serves as a living classroom\u2014and as a resource of organic colors used by students in textile and fiber science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Provided<\/figcaption>
Created by Prof. Denise Green \u201907, the garden features plants like Hopi Dye sunflowers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

An alum was a midcentury celebrity!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psychologist and media personality Dr. Joyce Brothers \u201947<\/a> entered the public eye when she won the top prize on the TV game show \u201cThe $64,000 Question\u201d in 1955.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Dr.<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

It has its own imaging facility!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"A
simon wheeler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Available to researchers universitywide, the college\u2019s MRI scanner is housed in a 3,000 square-foot facility<\/a> that\u2019s a collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among other uses: its ability to record brain activity via detailed imagery of blood flow can offer insight into emotions, memory, and decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It helps an NYC high school grow hydroponic crops!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Through its Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research<\/a> and Cornell Cooperative Extension, the college teamed up with NYC\u2019s Food and Finance High School in 2015 to create the Cornell Hydroponics, Aquaculture, and Aquaponics Learning Labs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Philson
Cornell University<\/figcaption>
The program’s founder, extension resource educator Philson Warner, works with students in 2017.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The rooftop labs combine aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (plants grown without soil)\u2014producing foods like tilapia, lettuces, and herbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

A construction snafu made way for a modern building!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2001, a survey for a planned renovation found that MVR\u2019s north wing\u2014a Brutalist-style addition from the late 1960s\u2014was at risk of collapse due to an error in floor construction.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"the
Provided<\/figcaption>
The north wing being demolished in 2005.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Over a four-day period, the building was completely emptied, remaining closed for several years before being demolished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, the 89,000-square-foot Human Ecology Building opened\u2014boasting labs, studios, an atrium, and more. Meanwhile, a years-long, LEED Gold-certified renovation of the original MVR Hall was completed in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

And \u2026 a current undergrad is an Olympic gold medalist!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Originally a member of the Class of \u201923, Karen Chen<\/a> is an elite figure skater who\u2019ll complete her degree in spring 2025\u2014having taken time off from her studies to train for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Karen
provided<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a long inquiry, Chen and her teammates were awarded gold\u2014receiving their medals in a special ceremony at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Top: Canning instruction in the 1940s. (All images courtesy of Rare and Manuscript Collections unless otherwise indicated)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published April 1, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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