Students cook in a kitchen at the School of Home Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1910-1920. This image of female students measuring, mixing and baking in an early classroom kitchen at UW-Madison made it to #4 in our list of most popular posts of 2012. Guest curator Erika Janik selected the photo as part of her series on home economics instruction in Wisconsin.  via: UW-Madison Archives by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
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Students cook in a kitchen at the School of Home Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1910-1920.

This image of female students measuring, mixing and baking in an early classroom kitchen at UW-Madison made it to #4 in our list of most popular posts of 2012. Guest curator Erika Janik selected the photo as part of her series on home economics instruction in Wisconsin. 

via: UW-Madison Archives by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Source: digital.library.wisc.edu

Professional Opportunities in Home EconomicsImages of women in the kitchen are a familiar scene in home economics, but what these images don’t show is the important role that home economics played in getting women into higher education. From its inception, collegiate home economics was multidisciplinary and integrative with an emphasis on science applied to the real world of the home, family, and community. It was an academic science designed by women for women. In the first half of the 20th century, these programs prepared women for teaching but also for careers in extension services, state and federal government, industry, restaurants, hotels, and hospitals. The University of Wisconsin got its own Department of Home Economics in 1903. This image shows students working in one of the department kitchens in the 1910s. via: UW-Madison Archives by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
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Professional Opportunities in Home Economics
Images of women in the kitchen are a familiar scene in home economics, but what these images don’t show is the important role that home economics played in getting women into higher education. From its inception, collegiate home economics was multidisciplinary and integrative with an emphasis on science applied to the real world of the home, family, and community. It was an academic science designed by women for women. In the first half of the 20th century, these programs prepared women for teaching but also for careers in extension services, state and federal government, industry, restaurants, hotels, and hospitals.

The University of Wisconsin got its own Department of Home Economics in 1903. This image shows students working in one of the department kitchens in the 1910s.

via: UW-Madison Archives by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Search for EfficiencyWe all want to be more efficient in the kitchen, don’t we? Kitchen efficiency was a major concern of the national home economics movement. Their efforts led to smaller kitchens, space-saving cabinetry, and countless time and motion studies to map every movement involved in meal preparation. Home economists gave us the “work triangle,” which specified where each cabinet and appliance should be to maximize production and minimize time. It’s an idea still in use today.  In 1958, University of Wisconsin home economist May Cowles calculated the time and walking distance saved using a more efficient, “synthesized” kitchen for the Journal of Home Economics. via: UW-Madison Archives by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Our guest curator Erika Janik joins us for the entire month of May, taking a look at the diverse histories of cooking and eating in the Badger State. Janik is an award-winning writer, historian, and the producer and editor of “Wisconsin Life” on Wisconsin Public Radio. She’s the author of Odd Wisconsin, A Short History of Wisconsin, Madison: A History of a Model City, and Apple: A Global History.
Pop-upView Separately

Search for Efficiency
We all want to be more efficient in the kitchen, don’t we? Kitchen efficiency was a major concern of the national home economics movement. Their efforts led to smaller kitchens, space-saving cabinetry, and countless time and motion studies to map every movement involved in meal preparation. Home economists gave us the “work triangle,” which specified where each cabinet and appliance should be to maximize production and minimize time. It’s an idea still in use today. 

In 1958, University of Wisconsin home economist May Cowles calculated the time and walking distance saved using a more efficient, “synthesized” kitchen for the Journal of Home Economics.

via: UW-Madison Archives by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Our guest curator Erika Janik joins us for the entire month of May, taking a look at the diverse histories of cooking and eating in the Badger State. Janik is an award-winning writer, historian, and the producer and editor of “Wisconsin Life” on Wisconsin Public Radio. She’s the author of Odd Wisconsin, A Short History of Wisconsin, Madison: A History of a Model City, and Apple: A Global History.

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