*This is not an exhaustive list of early Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih women at Cornell

The archival record shows that the following Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih (Haudenosaunee) women negotiated and directed their engagement with home economics research on and off Cornell’s campus between 1914 and 1942. This includes Mrs. Phoebe Lyons's role in mediating the representation of Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih culture at the 1914 Cayuga Indian Festival, Mrs. Andrew Pierce Sr.'s role in directing war-time food programs on the Onoñda’gegá (Onondaga) Nation, as well as Inez Blackchief's role in negotiating the subjects Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih youth explored on and off Cornell's campus in the early 1920s. Henrietta Hoag and Bessie Ransom also asserted sovereignty on campus in the 1930s through their participation in extracurricular activities like the Cosmopolitan Club and the fashion showcase, "Costumes of Many Lands."

Mrs. Phoebe Lyons, née Patterson was born on July 12, 1860 to William H. Patterson (Skarù·rę’) and Leah Patterson, née Chew (Skarù·rę’). She married Onoñda’gegá’ chief, Emmitt Lyons, and in May 1914, came to Cornell’s campus to give a cooking and basket-making demonstration to Professor Blanche Hazard’s students. According to her obituary, Mrs. Lyons was the eldest member of the Onoñda’gegá’ Eel Clan and longest appointed goyá:neh (clan mother) at the time of her death on September 11, 1928.

Mrs. Lovina M. Pierce Sr., née George was born on the Onyota’a:ka Nation in 1883 and later married Onoñda’gegá’ chief, Mr. Andrew H. Pierce Sr. Together, they decided to raise a family on Onoñda’gegá’ territory. According to their great granddaughter, Jill Pierce Long, both Mr. and Mrs. Pierce Sr. became members of the Episcopalian Church of the Good Shepherd and encouraged their children to speak English out of fear that they would be sent away to federal boarding school. Despite their adoption of Christianity and the English language, Mrs. Pierce Sr. practiced and embodied her roles and responsibilities as an Onyota’a:ka woman while undertaking home bureau work on the Onoñda’gegá’ Nation from 1917 to 1920.

Mrs. Beulah Amelia Knox, née Brayley was born on August 30, 1909, to Jeremiah Warren Brayley (Skarù·rę’) and Esther Blossom Brayley, née Henry (Skarù·rę’). In 1934, she graduated from Niagara Falls High School and became the first Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih woman to receive the Olive Whitman Memorial Scholarship in 1929. However, she only completed one year of coursework before returning to the Skarù·rę’ Nation in 1938, where she found work in retail.

Mrs. Inez Ground, née Blackchief was born at Ta:nöwö:de’ (Tonawanda) on June 9, 1900 to Seaver E. Blackchief (Onöndowa’ga:’) and Harriet Blackchief, née Moses (Onöndowa’ga:’, Deer Clan). Blackchief attended Akron High School before becoming one of the first three Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih women to partake in Cornell’s Indian Extension Program in 1920. In 1921, she established the Tonawanda Home Bureau Club, which allowed her to negotiate the subjects Onöndowa’ga:’ women explored within home bureau work. Blackchief went on to receive her undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester in 1928. She continued her studies at Cornell after receiving a scholarship from the Daughters of the American Revolution's New Rochelle Chapter in 1929. While Blackchief’s academic achievements led her to be perceived as “blazing the trail for equality of the sex,” she more accurately worked to uphold and preserve Indigenous practices and lifeways. Throughout the 1930s, Blackchief took part in several community-based projects at Ta:nöwö:de’. These ranged from cataloging the holdings of the Tonawanda Public Library to supervising the creation of clothing and accessories for the WPA-sponsored Seneca Indian Arts Projects.

Mrs. Henrietta Guilfoyle, née Hoag was born at Ohi:yo’ (Alleghany) on August 12, 1918, to Arthur Hoag (Onöndowa’ga:’, Wolf Clan) and Isabelle Hoag, née Tallchief (Onöndowa’ga:’, Beaver Clan). She was the granddaughter of William C. Hoag, former President of the Onöndowa’ga:’ Nation who directed the agricultural surveys Cornell’s College of Agriculture conducted at Ohi:yo’ in 1919. Her family’s role in the developing Cornell’s Indian Extension Program is most likely why Hoag applied for the Olive Whiteman Memorial Scholarship Fund in 1937. At Cornell, Hoag found community through the various extracurricular activities she took part in. This included the Cosmopolitan Club where she met her husband, Mr. Daniel Guilfoyle Sr. Hoag also negotiated the representation of Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́:nih aesthetics on Cornell’s campus by donning Onöndowa’ga:’ regalia for the 1937 fashion showcase “Costumes of Many Lands.” After graduation Hoag returned to her grandfather’s farm at Ohi:yo’ while her husband served in the U.S. Navy during WWII.

Mrs. Bessie Theresa Tarbell, née Ransom was born at Akwesasne on September 20, 1914, to Moses Ransom (Kanien’kehá:ka) and Angeline Ransom née White (Kanien’kehá:ka). After her parents passed away in 1927, Ransom fell under the care of John C. Brennan, superintendent of the Thomas Indian School. Throughout high school, she worked as a housekeeper in the home of New York Senator Cheney. There, Ransom first heard of the newly formed New York State College of Home Economics from Cheney’s daughter, Elizabeth Cheney. In 1933, she received the Olive Whitman Memorial Scholarship. While she was unable to receive financial aid and finish her degree, Ransom went on to work as a teacher at the YWCA in Franklin County, NY near Akwesasne.

Mrs. Constance Poodry, née Tahamont was born on May 15, 1924, to Robert Tahamont (Onöndowa’ga:’) and Maisa Tahamont, née Parker (Onöndowa’ga:’, Turtle Clan). Prior to receiving the Olive Whitman Memorial Scholarship, Tahamont attended Akron High School and was heavily involved in the Genesee County 4-H Club. She gave several homemaking demonstrations during the 1940 NY State 4-H Club Congress, which was held in Ithaca, NY. In 1942, Tahamont enrolled in Cornell's College of Home Economics and began working towards her degree in home economics. A year later, Tahamont returned to Ta:nöwö:de’, where she continued to support the social, economic, and physical welfare of her community. In addition to working as a health aid for the Tonawanda Seneca Family Care Center, she served as President of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary, Leisure Timers, and Tonawanda Historical Society, a position now held by her daughter, Juanita Poodry.

Bessie Ransom, “Application for New York State College of Home Economics,” Box 6, Bessie Ransom Tarbell, Non-Grad, NYS College of Human Ecology Office of Student Services, #23-11-2679, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY.

Henrietta Hoag, “Application for New York State College of Home Economics,” Box 8, Henrietta Hoag Guilfoyle ’40, NYS College of Human Ecology Office of Student Services, #23-11-2679, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY.

“Memorandum to Dean Mann: Extension Work on Indian Reservations,” Indian Reservations, Box 15, Folder 21, Albert R. Mann papers, #21-2-14, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY.

“Domestic Economics News.” Cornell Countryman, January 1921.

Guilfoyle Jr., Daniel E. personal communication, December 2022.

Hauptman, Laurence M. “The Iroquois School of Art: Arthur C. Parker and the Seneca Arts Project, 1935-1941,” New York History 60, no. 3 (1979), 283.

“Indian Conservation.” Onondaga County Farm and Home Bureau News, August 1919.

“Indian Girl Will Receive Scholarships,” Ithaca Journal, February 8, 1929, 9.

“Indian Maiden Wins Scholarship at Rochester University,” Ithaca Journal, September 4, 1924, 2.

“Indian Women Seek Home Bureau Help.” Cornell Extension Service News, June 1921.

“Inez Blackchief at Cornell, First Indian Girl to Win Full Scholarship, Is Interviewed.” Ithaca Journal, November 2, 1929.

“Iroquois Indian Girl Gets D.A.R. Cornell Scholarship.” Buffalo Courier-Express, September 22, 1929.

Long, Jill A. “The Haudenosaunee Legend of the Three Sisters as a Children’s Picture Book.” Master’s Thesis, Syracuse University, 2020.

Long, Jill A. personal communication, October 2022.

“Original Americans Like New Methods.” Cornell Extension Service News, April 1919.

“Phoebe Lyon, Indian, Dies: Onondaga Clan Mother Succumbs on Reservation,” New York Herald Tribune, September 12, 1928, 23.

Poodry, Juanita. personal communication, December 2022.

“Two Indian Girls are Home Economics Students.” Cornell Countryman, November 1930.