Just like the other feminized service professions -- teaching, nursing, social work, and librarianship -- home economics struggled to establish a professional identity. In a series of conferences held at Lake Placid between 1899 and 1909, home economists defined the nature of their field, debated what to call themselves, and founded their first professional association and research journal. In 1909, the American Home Economics Association (AHEA) was formally organized with the aim of improving "living conditions in the home, the institutional household, and the community."

Home economists then developed their own credentials and began to earn advanced degrees in the field. In 1919, Cornell established a chapter of Omicron Nu, the national home economics honor society for both undergraduate and graduate students, and faculty affiliated with regional groups such as the College Clothing Teachers of the Eastern United States. In 1922, Cornell awarded its first masters degree in home economics and, in 1930, its first Ph.D. in the field. After a concerted struggle, graduates of the College of Home Economics were finally permitted to join the Ithaca Branch of the American Association of University Women, in 1949. By the 1960s, Cornell home economists were affiliated with and held leadership positions in many different professional associations including the New York State Home Economics Association, the New York State Association of Extension Home Economists, the American Council on Consumer Interests, the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals, the Association of College Professors of Textiles and Clothing (now the International Textiles and Apparel Association), the National Association on the Education of Young Children, the National Council on Family Relations, and the American Dietetics Association.

Margaret Wylie's Obituary

Letter from John Howie

In 1921, the American Hotel Association (AHA), including John McFarlane Howie of the Hotel Touraine in Buffalo, proposed a college program for training in hotel management. The AHA believed that the quality of the hospitality industry would improve if its management were taught to apply scientific principles of sanitation, efficiency, and consumer economics to the maintenance of hotels. Consequently, the first collegiate courses in hotel administration began at Cornell in 1922, under the direction of Howard Meek, within the School of Home Economics. Advocates of formal hotel administration instruction hoped to turn hospitality from a trade learned by apprenticeship into a profession learned in a classroom. This 1925 letter is evidence of the great respect John Howie had for co-directors Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose. In 1950, the Department of Hotel Administration became the School of Hotel Administration within the College of Home Economics. Four years later the school was made an independent college with Meek serving as dean.

American Home Economics Association

This certificate shows that the AHEA granted Flora Rose lifetime membership in 1959. Founded in 1909 by Ellen Swallow Richards, it became the most influential professional society for home economists. From 1914 to 1916, Martha Van Rensselaer served as the organization's president. In 1959, as many as 24,420 home economists belonged to the AHEA.

Flemmie Kittrell's Thesis

In 1936, Flemmie Kittrell received her Ph.D. from Cornell. She was the first African American woman ever to receive a doctorate in home economics.

Omicron Nu Pin

Student members of Omicron Nu wore their pins to symbolize their membership in the national home economics honor society.

Lake Placid Convention

Participants at the first Lake Placid Convention in 1899 and original members of the American Home Economics Association. Left to right: Annie Dewey, wife of Melville Dewey; Maria Daniell, popular lecturer on food and its preparation and pioneer in institution management; Ellen Swallow Richards, first president of the AHEA; Alice Peloubet Norton, assistant professor of domestic administration at the University of Chicago; and Maria Parloa, teacher in the famous Boston Cooking School and author of the acclaimed Appledore Cookbook.

The Journal of Home Economics

The first issue of the Journal of the American Home Economics Association, published in 1909.