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

Title
The secret history of home economics : how trailblazing women harnessed the power of home and changed the way we live / Danielle Dreilinger.
Author
Dreilinger, Danielle
Publication
New York, NY : W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2021]

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StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextUse in library JFE 21-7462Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
xv, 348 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 24 cm
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"--
Subject
  • Home economists > United States > Biography
  • Housekeepers > United States > Biography
  • Women scientists > United States > Biography
  • Home economics > United States > History
  • HOUSE & HOME / General
  • Home economics
  • Home economists
  • Housekeepers
  • Women scientists
  • United States
Genre/Form
  • Biographies.
  • History.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
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.
Call Number
JFE 21-7462
ISBN
  • 9781324004493
  • 1324004495
LCCN
  • 2020054841
  • 40030508433
OCLC
1196174367
Author
Dreilinger, Danielle, author.
Title
The secret history of home economics : how trailblazing women harnessed the power of home and changed the way we live / Danielle Dreilinger.
Publisher
New York, NY : W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2021]
Edition
First edition.
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Other Standard Identifier
40030508433
Research Call Number
JFE 21-7462
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