Home Economics in the 1940s
People of a certain age may remember the bygone "home economics" classes in their high schools. During the 1940s, the field was an applied science that instructed women in hygiene, raising children, balancing the checkbook and managing the homestead. Though feminist scholars previously criticized the field for its positioning of women in maternal domestic roles, recent academic research has focused upon how the home economics movement created opportunities and strengthened women's power in the household.
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Eleanor Roosevelt
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From the 1920s to the 1040s, Eleanor Roosevelt played an integral role in the promotion of Home Economics. She used her influence to obtain private and public funding for programs across the United States. In particular, she obtained more than a million dollars in funding for a research center at Cornell University that is still active as of 2011. Her interest in this field was to empower women by making them into enlightened homemakers who employed modern science to create better households. For instance, they would be able to cook healthier meals for the family by using their knowledge of nutrition science.
World War II
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In the 1940s, Home Economics dealt in large part with the impact of World War II. In terms of food, wartime rationing made it difficult to purchase meat; women had to figure out recipes such as stuffed onions and vegetable scrapple to create filling meals for their families. Additionally, the absence of husbands due to military service put women in a position where they had a much greater role in household finances and other affairs. Not only did they manage the homestead but many worked swing shifts in factories, as immortalized by the iconic image of "Rosie the Riveter."
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Education
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Another positive effect of Home Economics on women was its emphasis on education. Even though women generally did not enroll in "male" courses of study such as engineering, a Home Economics major meant a woman spent time in a college environment, giving her a less sheltered perspective than being confined in the home. In some cases, these women became the first members of their family to enroll in an institution of higher learning. As one alum notes on the "Home Economics Centennial" website, "No one expected anyone from my family to go to college. But I was determined. I came from a family of ten children."
Influence Abroad
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Faculty and experts in Home Economics went abroad in the postwar period to educate other countries through government programs such as the Marshall Plan Economic Recovery Program. This outreach not only explained basic principles of the science to many foreigners but it influenced the education, role and status of women outside of the U.S.
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