The Education of Women
Liberty Hyde Bailey placed great emphasis on the value of women’s education, and as dean of the College of Agriculture, he appointed Cornell’s first women professors: Anna Botsford Comstock (summer session 1899), Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose (1911). He further encouraged the development of a home economics curriculum to meet the needs of the women of New York State.
Bailey articulated his philosophy on women’s education in the 1913 Cornell Reading Course Bulletin, in an article entitled “Lessons for the Farm Home: ”
I would not limit the entrance of women into any courses of the College of Agriculture; on the contrary, I want all courses open to them freely and on equal terms with men.... Furthermore I do not conceive it to be essential that all teachers in home economics subjects be women; nor, on the other hand, do I think it is essential that all teachers in the other series of departments shall be men. The person who is best qualified to teach the subjects should be the one who teaches it...I hope for the time when there will be as many women in the College of Agriculture as there are men.
In his nine years as dean of the New York State College of Agriculture, Bailey’s vision of women’s education became a reality. When he retired in 1913, he left behind a well-established Department of Home Economics, a newly erected home economics building, and strong leaders who would continue to carry out his dream.
To the Farmer’s Wife
Letter from Liberty Hyde Bailey, Bureau of Nature Study and Farmer’s Reading Course, n.d.
In 1901 Liberty Hyde Bailey wrote a letter to farmers’ wives requesting them to “talk back,” which led to the development of a farmers’ wives reading course similar to the already established farmers’ reading course. 2,000 women responded to the letter, a clear indication that the farm women of New York State wanted their voices to be heard.
1903 Reading-Course
Reading-Course for Farmers’ Wives. Series II, No. 7, December 1903.
This 1903 Reading-Course for Farmers’ Wives bulletin is just one of the many bulletins published by the College of Agriculture.
Letter to M. Van Rensselaer
Letter to Martha Van Rensselaer from Liberty Hyde Bailey, November 27, 1908.
My attitude, therefore, is that home-making subjects are just as essential a part of a college of agriculture as any other subject whatever, and that we cannot expect to make much progress in the redirecting of country life until these subjects are as well developed as the technical agricultural subjects.
In 1908 the newly formed Commission on Country Life, chaired by Liberty Hyde Bailey, visited the College of Agriculture. Bailey wrote to Martha Van Rensselaer to prepare her for the visit and to ensure that the Commission witnessed the work being done in the Department of Home Economics.
Staff of Farmers’ Institute
Farmers’ Institutes were planned in cooperation with the College of Agriculture to share knowledge about agricultural principles and research with local farmers. Under Liberty Hyde Bailey’s leadership, the staff of this Cornell University Farmers’ Institute included women. Martha Van Rensselaer, the co-director of the New York State College of Home Economics, is on the far left.
Alumni Yearbook
Classes of 1911—’12—’13 Department of Home Economics Yearbook
From 1911 to 1918 the senior women in home economics created original yearbooks, which included a photograph of each student and biographical information. The 1911 class dedicated their yearbook to Liberty Hyde Bailey “under whose Deanship the classes of 1911, 1912, 1913 had the honor of graduating.” Bailey in turn inscribed the front page:
The Department of Home Economics was organized to train a woman in efficiency and to develop her outlook of life. Such a department is a necessity as a means of developing society. It stands for the evolution of woman’s work and place.
Home Economics Department
“Home Economics Department, New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University. Four-Year College Course Extension Teaching”
In 1912 Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose were named co-directors of the Department of Home Economics in the College of Agriculture. Because of the rapid growth of the department a home economics building was constructed that year. In 1933 the College of Home Economics moved into a new building and the Department of Entomology moved into the old home economics building, renamed Comstock Hall in honor of John Henry and Anna Botsford Comstock; it is presently Cornell’s Computing and Communications Center.
Lesson for the Farm Home
