In 1889 Dr. Margaret Snell, a physician educated at Boston University, was hired to serve as professor and chairman the newly created Department of Household Economy and Hygiene.  

Dr. Snell had a clear idea of her mission. "The purpose of this department is to teach girls how to cook, to sew, and how to take care of their own health and that of a family," she wrote in an early catalog. "Few things contribute so much to the welfare of the family, and hence of the State, as attention given to secure the good health of the household."

However, Dr. Snell believed that a good education helped develop the student as a whole and mere skills were not enough because of the skills a women needed to raise a family and run her household.  Which all contributed to a successful nation.  Dr. Snell's students painted a cozy picture of those early days, explaining that after they had placed "their little saucepans on the stove for cooking," they would pick up their hand stitching while she read to them from the Bible, Shakespeare, Emerson, Tennyson, and Byron.

She remained at Oregon State until she retired in 1908.

SCARC materials documenting Margaret Snell span a variety of collections, including the Oregon State University Memorabilia Collection, the History of Oregon State University Oral Histories and Sound Recordings, and the College of Home Economics Photograph Collection.

Juliet Greer was a graduate of Vassar College and spent ten years as an instructor at New York’s Pratt Institute prior to coming to OAC.  

Greer succeeded Margaret Snell as head of the Department of Domestic Science and Art in 1908, and was named the first dean as a result of President Kerr’s academic reorganization of the college. She served until spring 1911. 

SCARC materials documenting Juliet Greer span a variety of collections, including the College of Home Economics Photograph Collection and the President's Office Photographs.

Previously at Purdue University, Henrietta Calvin was appointed Dean of Household Economics in 1911 and served until 1915, however she did not arrive on campus until 1912.

After leaving Oregon State, she held roles as the Home Economics Director for the United States Department of Agriculture, supervisor of home economics for the Philadelphia schools, and home economics specialist at the Bureau of Education in Washington, D.C.  

In 1925, Kansas State Agricultural College conferred upon her a PhD for her connections to KSAC and her contributions to home economics.  KSAC also named and dedicated the new home economics building to her.

SCARC materials documenting Henrietta Calvin include one collection, the College of Home Economics Photograph Collection.

Grace Johnson came to Oregon State in 1915 from Columbia University, where she had earned her bachelors and would go on to earn her masters.  During her time at Oregon State, Johnson was known for her ideas on thrift and her thrifty habits, which she encouraged others to practice as well.

Withycombe House, the first "Practice House," was established in 1916, and was supervised by Johnson. Her continued association with the practice house endeared her to many home economics students.

She served as the Head of the Department of Household Administration and served as the Dean of the School of Home Economics when Dean Milam was absent in 1932.  Grace Johnson passed away suddenly April 12, 1933 after 18 years of service to Oregon State.  She had plans to take advanced coursework at Iowa State College when she passed.

SCARC materials documenting Grace Johnson span a variety of collections, including the A. Grace Johnson Collection, the Maud Wilson Papers, and the Contract Administration Records.

Educated at the University of Chicago, Ava Milam Clark could trace her commitment to home economics directly to the inspiration of Dr. Ellen H. Richards, founder of the field, and a presenter at the University during her time as a student.

Milam arrived in Corvallis in 1911 to head the Department of Domestic Science, and stayed to serve as Dean of the School of Home Economics from 1917 to 1950.

A central focus of her career was the development of home economics in other countries. She was a consultant for home economics programs in Asia and visited the Philippines, Singapore, Burma, India, Egypt, Palestine, Italy, and London.  This meant she travelled extensively and served in many high-profile leadership roles in multiple organizations, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. 

In 1950, Milam retired from Oregon State College and was made Dean Emeritus. In 1951 and 1952, she served as a home economics advisor to the governments of Syria and Iraq, pioneering improvements to home economics education for women in these countries, surveying vocational education opportunities, and setting up teaching-training programs. She also visited Lebanon and Egypt in this role.

She published her memoirs, Adventures of a Home Economist, in 1969 and passed away in 1976.

SCARC materials documenting Ava Milam Clark span a variety of collections, including the Oregon State University Memorabilia Collection, the College of Home Economics Photograph Collection, and the President's Office General Subject and Correspondence Files.  SCARC also has the Ava Milam Clark Papers at SCARC, and items from this collection have been digitized and are in Oregon Digital.  There is a transcript of an oral history conducted with her in the History of Oregon State University Oral Histories and Sound Recordings from 1956.

"...sciences applied in the home should not be taught as areas separate and discrete in themselves. We should select principles from all areas of science, as taught in other subject-matter fields, and apply them to the fields of home economics."

- Dean Ava Milam

Brooks graduated with degrees from the Pratt Institute of New York and Columbia University.  Coming from the Illinois State Normal University where she held the title of Director of Household Art, she started as Professor of Domestic Art in 1911.  

in her role as Head of the Department of Domestic Arts, when Dean Henrietta Calvin resigned, Brooks became a member of the executive committee of deans along with the Head of Domestic Science, Ava Milam, and the Dean of Women, Mary Fawcett.

SCARC materials documenting Helen Brooks include one collection, the College of Home Economics Photograph Collection.

Mary Eliza Fawcett earned her bachelors from Ohio State University, 1907, and a masters from University of Illinois, 1909.  After obtaining her masters, she went on to work at the University of Illinois served as Acting Dean of Women at the University prior to coming to Oregon State.

In her role as Dean of Women at Oregon State, when Dean Henrietta Calvin resigned, Fawcett became chairperson of the executive committee of deans along with the Head of Domestic Science, Ava Milam, and the Head of Domestic Art, Helen Brooks.

She served as Dean of Women until 1921.

SCARC materials documenting Mary Eliza Fawcett include one collection, the College of Home Economics Photograph Collection.

Clara Humason Waldo was born in 1858.  

She was the first woman to be named to the Board of Regents for a state institution of higher education, and also the first woman to address a graduating class at Oregon State.  Along with serving on the Board of Regents own Oregon, she also served on the state Board in California.  A member of the OAC Board of Regents from 1905-1919, Waldo Hall is named in her honor. 

In 1911 she worked as the Dean of Extension in Domestic Science at OAC with no compensation and received an honorary Doctorate of Science from OAC in 1923. She was the wife of Oregon Supreme Court Justice John B. Waldo.  Clara Waldo died in 1933.

SCARC materials documenting Clara Waldo span a variety of collections, including the Oregon State University Memorabilia Collection, and E. E. Wilson Papers.

Zelta Feike Rodenwold was Director of the Home Economics Extension radio programs. Rodenwold became the first female editor at the Barometer and founded the "OAC Alumnus" magazine.

As Director of the Home Economics Extension radio programs, Rodenwold’s duties included coordinating the Extension Home Economics radio programs, which included lectures on household administration, finance and art, and even physical education for women. Rodenwold hosted a show called “Aunt Sammy’” which consisted of chats on homemaking based upon scripts produced in Washington, DC (the name Aunt Sammy being a take-off of Uncle Sam).  When she left Oregon State in 1948, she had been affiliated with KOAC for more than twenty years.

SCARC materials documenting Zelta Feike Rodenwold span a variety of collections, including the Oregon State University Memorabilia Collection, Harriet's Photograph Collection, and the News and Communication Services Records.  SCARC also has two of the booklets she authored in the Illustrated Booklets Collection.

Maud Wilson received her bachelors of science in home economics from the University of Nebraska in 1913 and expected to return to teaching math at the high school level.  Instead, she became an instructor at the university and eventually become involved with the extension service.  

Previously at Washingon State College, working with the extension service, Wilson came to OAC in 1925.  She taught in the College of Home Economics and was the first faculty member at OAC to conduct research full-time in home economics, which was funded by the Purnell Act of 1925 and allowed her to continue her research for about five years.  Specializing in the study of housing design, Wilson studied the use of time in the rural household and standards of livability.  Wilson also served as head of Home Economics for the Agricultural Experiment Station.

From 1925 until 1949, Wilson served as the chairman of Home Economics Research, where she pioneered research on housing.

Taking time off for study, she earned her Masters of Art in Household Administrsation from the University of Chicago in 1931.

Wilson retired from Oregon State in 1950.

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SCARC materials documenting Maud Wilson span a variety of collections, including the Oregon State College History of World War II Project Records, the History of Oregon State University Oral Histories and Sound Recordings, and the College of Home Economics and Education Records.  SCARC also has the Maud Wilson Papers, which consist of publications detailing her research as a Professor of Home Economics at Oregon Agricultural College, research materials used to support and inform her instruction, and photographs. 

Sara Watt Prentiss was a Professor of Child Development and Parent Education from 1930 and Head of Household Administration from 1936 until her retirement in 1952.

After the death of her husband, Prentiss hoped that her early chemistry training might make her employable as a laboratory technician.  A friend of her late husband discouraged this, and recommended she talk with the head of the home economics department at the University of Chicago.  She was strongly encouraged to study home economics at Oregon State, although Prentiss “hardly knew what home economics meant.”  She decided to go to Oregon, and after two years and a summer session, she received a Bachelor of Science in 1917.  After graduation, Ava B. Milam recommended her appointment to the faculty, and wrote that she considered Prentiss to be “one of the strongest graduates” of the Home Economics Department, a “woman of broad experience,” and well-suited to handle child care for the department.

Prentiss taught the first course in child care ever offered at OSU--a one credit course in fall of 1917 entitled “Mothercraft,” which mostly discussed the “physical care of the child.”  As demand increased, she had more opportunities to teach varied courses on child development, behavior problems, parent education, and family relationships.  These classes made use of the nursery school as a laboratory.  In 1930, she was made a full professor of Child Development and Parent Education.

Later in 1930, she received her master’s degree in psychology from University of California, Berkeley.  She worked with UC Berkeley’s extension service, as a parent education specialist from 1934-36. In 1936, she returned to OSC to become head of the Department of Household Administration.  She reached retirement age in 1951, but she stayed on a part-time basis for the summer session to teach seminar readings in Child Development and Family Relationships. Upon her retirement, she was given Emeritus status.

She died at age 68 on August 1st, 1954.  She was a member of numerous learned societies, including Phi Kappa Phi, the Society for Research in Child Development, and the American Association of University Professors.  As a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, she was nominated for a Women of Achievement award in 1956. 

SCARC materials documenting Sara Watt Prentiss include one collection, the KOAC Records.

Dr. Margaret Fincke was a home economics nutritionist at Oregon State College from 1935 to 1968. She served as Acting Dean of the School of Home Economics from 1963 to 1964.

Fincke received her A.B. from Mt. Holyoke College in 1921. She received her master’s degree from Columbia University in 1932, and her Ph.D. in 1935. Her dissertation for her Ph.D. was titled, “The Availability of Calcium from some Typical Foods.”  She was also a member of the American Institute of Nutrition and the American Home Economics Association.

She began at OSC as an Associate Professor of Foods and Nutrition in 1935, becoming the first Ph.D. on the School of Home Economics staff. By 1943, she was promoted to the rank of professor. She became the head of the Foods and Nutrition Department in 1944. During World War Two, Fincke served on the Benton County Civil Defense Committee and was a nutrition chairman of the Benton County Red Cross. In 1955, she was nominated to become a consultant in Home Economics in Thailand for six months, following the contract formed between Oregon State and Kasetsart University.

She retired in 1968. By the end of her career, Fincke was an internationally recognized nutritionist, with significant contributions to the field of home economics and nutrition.

SCARC materials documenting Margaret Fincke span a variety of collections, including the Clara A. Storvick Papers, Zoe Ann Holmes Photographs, and the Nutrition and Food Management Department Records.  There is also a transcript and digital audio available for her oral history in the College of Home Economics Oral Histories.

Vera Etta Haskell Brandon first attend Oregon State and completed a bachelor of science degree in Domestic Science and Art in 1911.  She then worked as an instructor for the Portland School of Trades.

She later returned to Oregon State and earned a bachelor of science in Home Economics and Vocational Education in 1927 and her master of science in Household Administration in 1929.  She would earn her PhD in Child Welfare and Development from the University of Iowa in 1936.

After completing her master's thesis, "Survey of the Children's farm home of the Oregon Woman's Christian temperance union, located near Corvallis, Oregon," she went on to be an instructor, and eventually served as acting dean of Home Economics at Oregon State from 1950-1954 and Associate Dean from 1954-1956.  

She taught classes in child development, home management, and nursery school.  She also supervised graduate students conducting child development research.  

SCARC materials documenting Vera Brandon span a variety of collections, including the College of Home Economics Photograph Collection, and the Faculty and Staff Photograph Collection.

Lois A. Sather received her Bachelors of Science in foods and nutrition from Oregon State College in 1945.

Although not on the Home Economics staff, Sather helped bridge research between that college and the College of Agriculture.  She was hired that year as a research assistant in the Food Science Department, became an instructor in 1952, and later an assistant and associate professor in 1955 and 1963, respectively.  In 1972 she became a full professor.  Her research focused on the flavor evaluation of food and beverages and her work continues to influence the program.  As part of her research she established the sensory evaluation laboratory, also known as the flavorium, and oversaw the development and growth of that area.  Later in her career she focused specifically on flavor panel studies and the development of new commercial food products, publishing over 50 scientific papers on flavor evaluation studies.

SCARC materials documenting Lois Sather span a variety of collections, including the President's Office Photographs, and the Robert W. Henderson Photographic Slides Collection.

Clara A. Storvick was a Professor in Foods & Nutrition and Chairman of Home Economics Research in the Experiment Station, from 1945 to 1972. She was named Associate Professor in 1945, and full Professor in 1948. She was awarded emeritus status upon her retirement in 1972. She was employed on a part-time emergency basis the following summer.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts from St. Olaf College in 1929 in physiology and biology, her Master of Science from Iowa State University in 1933, and her PhD. from Cornell in 1941 in nutrition, physiology, and biochemistry. Her thesis for her master’s degree was titled “Effect of the ingestion of coffee on the calcium metabolism of the albino rat.” For her doctoral dissertation, her thesis was titled “Ascorbic acid metabolism studies in human beings.”

In 1945, she came to OSC as she wanted to devote more of her time to research. She was said to be an inspiring and challenging teacher. In her research work, she was considered “imaginative, thorough, careful and scholarly.” She was interested in “fundamental investigations on man and his nutritive requirements.” She worked with ascorbic acid, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin B6 metabolism. She was considered a national leader in research on Vitamin B in the blood.

Five states in the West, including Oregon, had previously done cooperative research on an informal basis with no budget, but she was the first to administer the regional funds available in the Research and Marketing Act. She led a group of twenty-two workers in the field and laboratory, and set an example for all the other Western states in studying nutritional status and dental care.

 In 1972, she became Director of the Nutrition Research Institute and Chairman of Home Economics Research. She was author or co-author of 71 publications on mineral, vitamin, and amino acid metabolism and relationship of nutrition to dental health.

SCARC materials documenting Clara Storvick span a variety of collections, including the Zoe Ann Holmes Photographs, the Nutrition and Food Management Department Records, and the Nutrition Research Institute Records.

SCARC also has the Clara A. Storvick Papers in SCARC, and there is transcript and audio available for her oral history in the College of Home Economics Oral Histories.

Miriam Scholl was born in 1907 in Seattle, Washington.  

She received her Bachelor of Science in Institution Management, with minors in science and liberal arts, from the University of Washington in 1931.  She earned her Master of Arts in Institution Management, with a minor in education foundations, from Columbia University Teachers College in 1939.  She went on to earn her PhD in educational foundations, with minors in educational administration guidance, home economics education, and higher education in 1954.

After graduating, she joined Columbia University Teachers College as an instructor. She then spent three years as a home economist for a San Francisco industrial firm that manufactured dehydrated vegetables for the armed forces.  In 1946, she spent a year in the British Zone of Germany working with “displaced persons” with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

Dean Scholl was part of the Home Economics Committee of the National Project in Agricultural Communications, a life member of the American Home Economics Association and the American Dietetics Association.  She received an official Certificate of Commendation from the State of Oregon in 1956, as “official recognition and appreciation for a valuable suggestion which has been adopted and which is an outstanding contribution to the improvement of State service.”  She served on the editorial board of the Journal of Home Economics, and was the president of the Oregon Home Economics Association. She was hired in 1956 and resigned in 1964.

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SCARC materials documenting Miriam Scholl span a variety of collections, including the College of Home Economics Photograph Collection, the President's Office Photographs, and the Faculty and Staff Photograph Collection.

Betty E. Hawthorne was hired in 1946 and served as Dean of the School of Home Economics from 1965 to 1983.  In this time she saw a vast expansion of job opportunities for graduates.  She retired as Dean for health reasons.

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SCARC materials documenting Betty Hawthorne span a variety of collections, including the College of Home Economics Motion Picture Films and Videotapes, the Robert W. Henderson Photographic Slides Collection, and the Nutrition and Food Management Department Records.

SCARC also has the Betty E. Hawthorne Collection at SCARC, and there is transcript and audio available for her oral history in the College of Home Economics Oral Histories.

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"The faces of our graduates change over the years, as do the professions they choose, but I firmly believe our original commitment will remain: to support enduring human relationships and to improve the quality of human life." - Dean Betty Hawthorne

As Betty Miner grew up, the importance of education was emphasized by her professor father.  She graduated from high school as one of five valedictorians in the class of 1955, and went to attend Kansas State University to study Home Economics Education.  After completing her Bachelors, Betty was offered a stipend by the university to continue and complete a Master’s degree.  During this period, Betty was focused on foods and nutrition, and completed a research project entitled, "Calcium and Phosphorus Retention by Two 13-year old Girls." Her academic efforts ultimately landed her a position at Cornell University as a laboratory instructor for foods and nutrition.

After marrying, the Miners moved back to Kansas where Betty was hired to teach at al high school.  The couple then relocated again to Iowa State University, where Betty taught in the College of Home Economics as an instructor of meal management, a position that often required her to run taste panels on meat.

In 1972, the Miners moved to Corvallis, Oregon, where Betty worked as an instructor in Foods and Nutrition.  Following her departure in 1983, Betty maintained a high level of involvement at Oregon State, spending time volunteering with the OSU Folk Club and serving a six-month appointment as an Extension Home Economist in Linn County, where she became a Master food preserver.  

SCARC materials documenting Betty Miner include an oral history in the History of Oregon State University Oral Histories and Sound Recordings, which is viewable online as well.

Kinsey Bass Green majored in home economics education and received her bachelor 's degree in 1960 from the Mary Washington College at the University of Virginia.  She holds master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Maryland (1965 and 1969, respectively) where she concentrated on family studies.

She began her career as a high school teacher of home economics and English in Virginia, and was an instructor, assistant professor and associate professor of home economics at the University of Maryland for 11 years.  Green served as assistant dean of the College of Education and assistant head of the home economics department at the University of Maryland.

She was hired as Dean of the College of Home Economics at Oregon State in 1984 and served until 2000.  Green was a recognized expert on public policy, demographic trends, and economic factors affecting the home economics professional and not-for-profit organizations.

Active in the profession, Green served as executive director of the American Home Economics Association (AHEA), director of the American Society of Association Executives, on the board of directors for the Future Homemakers of America and the Center for the Handicapped Inc., and president-elect and president for the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in 1999-2001.  

She published a number of works during her career, including: Family life education: focus on student involvement, No empty nest: families of the handicapped, and The world of food.

SCARC materials documenting Kinsey Green span a variety of collections, including the College of Home Economics Motion Picture Films and Videotapes, and the Intercollegiate Athletics Records.

Raised on a farm in St. Ignatius, Montana, Melinda Manore learned to enjoy farm-fresh food and outdoor activities from an early age.  After graduating high school, Manore completed a BA in 1973 at Seattle Pacific University and a MS in 1980 from the University of Oregon.

She earned her PhD in nutrition with a minor in exercise science at Oregon State in 1984 with a dissertation entitled, "The Effect of Two Carbohydrate Diets and Vitamin B-6 on Vitamin B-6 and Fuel Metabolism and Cardiac Function During Exercise in Trained and Untrained Women."

Her research continued to focus on the links between eating and exercise, especially in women.  She focused on connections at all levels of integration: chemical, physical, societal, and motivational.  Over the first few decades of her career, she saw her research become its own distinct discipline of study.

Throughout her career at Oregon State, she authored numerous textbooks and articles, was associate editor of the American College of Sports Medicine's Health and Fitness Journal from 1998-2006, and worked with Oregon's Health and Sciences University through a research exchange program.  

While there are no hits for "Melinda Manore" in SCARC materials on our website, a search for "Melinda Manore" on Oregon Digital includes a number of hits in university publications. 

Clara C. Pratt taught at OSU as a professor in human development and family science.  She was a national leader in gerontology research and policy.  She served as the director of Oregon State's Program on Gerontology since 1978.

She became the endowed chair in family policy when it was first created in the College of Home Economics and Education.

Pratt retired in 2005.

SCARC materials documenting Clara Pratt span a variety of collections, including the College of Home Economics Motion Picture Films and Videotapes.  In addition, two oral histories have been conducted with Pratt.  You can learn more in the Voices of Oregon State University Oral History Collection and Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection.

Megan McClelland is the Katherine E. Smith Professor of Healthy Children and Families at Oregon State University.  She is also the endowed Director of the Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, and a senior professor in Human Development and Family Sciences.

Born and raised in Maui, Hawaii, in an academically orientated family, eventually attending college was never a question.  Seeing her cousins and many of the native Hawaiians struggle in school and often fall into substance abuse, encouraged her curiosity about the development of individuals and how different factors shape academic and overall success in life.  In order to further pursue her interests she followed in the footsteps of her famous great-uncle, psychologist David McClelland, and attended the University of California-Irvine to study psychology where she gravitated toward the field of developmental psychology.  After completing her BS at UC-Irvine, she earned her masters and doctorate degrees at Loyola University in Chicago.

After completing her PhD, she continued to conduct research on social learning skills such as self-regulation, working memory, and attention, as a faculty member at Oregon State.  While at OSU, she helped to develop Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS), a measure that assesses self-regulation within children and has now been adapted in 28 languages for use all over the world in school readiness research projects.  She has also helped to develop an intervention program that assists children in improving the skills that are assessed on the HTKS measure, all with a goal of boosting their school readiness and their likelihood of academic success later on.

SCARC materials documenting "Megan McClelland" include an oral history as part of Voices of Oregon State University Oral History Collection, which is also viewable online.