The secret history of home economics : how trailblazing women harnessed the power of home and changed the way we live / Danielle Dreilinger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dreilinger, Danielle, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Home economists--United States--Biography.

Home economists.

Housekeepers--United States--Biography.

Housekeepers.

Women scientists--United States--Biography.

Women scientists.

Home economics--United States--History.

Home economics.

United States.

History.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

xv, 348 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2021]

Summary:

"The surprising, often fiercely feminist, always fascinating, yet barely known, history of home economics. The term "home economics" may conjure traumatic memories of lopsided hand-sewn pillows or sunken cakes. But obscured by common conception is the story of the revolutionary science of better living. The field exploded opportunities for women in the twentieth century by reducing domestic work and providing jobs as professors, engineers, chemists, and businesspeople that were otherwise foreclosed. In The Secret History of Home Economics, Danielle Dreilinger traces the field's history from small farms to the White House, from Victorian suffragists to Palo Alto techies. Home economics followed the currents of American culture even as it shaped them; Dreilinger brings forward the racism within the movement along with the strides taken by Black women who were influential leaders and innovators. She also looks at the personal lives of home economics' women, as they chose being single, shared lives with women, or tried for egalitarian marriages. This groundbreaking and engaging history restores a maligned subject to its rightful importance"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Everything you know about home economics is wrong

The road to home economics

The Lake Placid Conference

Food will win the war

Perhaps it wasn't really a man's job after all

It's up to the women

Clothes moths work for Hitler

From coveralls to housecoats

The iron fist in the oven mitt

Selling Mrs. Housewife

New directions

New homemakers build the future

Beyond stitching and stirring

Addressing the enemy

Home economics at risk

What would Ellen do?

How to bring back home ec.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781324004493

1324004495

OCLC:

1196174367