CHAPTER 1:

Home Economics: History, Concept, Principles and Philosophy

Learning Outcomes:
1. Explain the concepts, principles, and philosophy of Home Economics
2. Outline the milestone of Home Economics
3. Discuss the Importance of Home Economics in the lives of people and community.
4. Identify major changes in the community brought about by Home Economics
5. Demonstrate interest in the different H.E specializations and the job opportunities they
bring to individual.

Introduction
Home Economics
 called as domestic science or family and consumer sciences.
 it is the foundation of knowledge, attitudes, and abilities that affect daily decision
making throughout our lives.
 a field or formal study including such topics as:
- Human Development
- Food and Nutrition
- Financial Management
- Clothing and Textiles
- Shelter and Housing
This Chapter will give you a review about the subject as one of the areas in the technical-
vocational track specifically in the Junior and Senior High. For those who have not taken the
course in high school, this will give you a complete overview of HE and be able to appreciate the
importance it brings to the lives of future homemakers in the future.
In this Chapter, this includes the concepts, principles, and philosophy of home
economics, its importance in the lives of people, the major changes brought about by home
economics and the different careers or job opportunities it brings to individuals.
In general, this Chapter will help you become an effective and efficient HE teacher with
the required competences that you can share and transfer to the learners.
Topic: The Evolution of Home Economics
 The history of Home Economics is attributed to Catherine Beecher (sister of Harriet
Beecher Stowe) who was the first to champion the economics of running a house.

 The two sisters were both leaders in the middle of 1800s who talked about domestic
science and valued education especially for women.

 Home Economics education started in the United States after the American Revolution.
The land grant colleges and universities established by the Morrill Act 1862 were the first
institution which provided a foundation for the growth of home economics education.
Programs for women were offered by Lowa, Cansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota and
Michigan. A number of women graduated from these institutions several years before the
Lake Placid Conference was held in 1889, which eventually led to the home economics
movement.

 The first Lake Placid Conference was held in 1889, however, there was not much
documentation done on the different activities.

 Ellen Swallow Richards was the first woman started the Home Economics movements.
She was also the first woman to attend the Massachusetts of Technology and became the
first woman Instructor in the same school. She was instrumental in getting her own space
during the World's Fair in 1893 called the Rumford Kitchen. She refused to participate in
the kitchen demonstration because she believed that nutrition was not only the women's
work, but information for all.

 She was instrumental in getting her own space during the World's Fair in 1893 called the
Rumford Kitchen. She refused to participate in the kitchen demonstration because she
believed that nutrition was not only the women's work, but information for all.

 For over 10 years, Ellen Richards and her contemporaries explored the latest in this line
of profession. It was their goal to form an education and scientific association as an
important component in formalizing the profession.
 The American Home Economics Association was formed in January 1909. It was until
1993 when a group of modern home economics met at Scottsdale, Arizona to include the
course for home economics in the new millennium. The Scottsdale Conference changed
the name of the American Home Economics to American Association of Family and
Consumer Sciences.

 Many colleges and universities used other names although even long before the
Scottsdale Conferences such titles as Human Sciences, Human Ecology, Consumer and
Family Sciences and many more were used.

 Home Economics is also known as Family and Consumer Sciences. It is taught in

secondary schools, colleges and universities, vocational school and in adult education
centers, where students include women and some men.

 In the 1800s, Home Economics classes were intended to prepare young women for their
duties in the home. Classes were first in the United States, Canada and Great Britain,
followed by Latin America, Asia and Africa. International organizations such as those
associated with the United Nations have been involved in starting home economics
programs around the world.

 The term Home Economics started in the 20th century amidst an increasing population of
a literate citizenry and the greater availability of printed materials that catalyzed the
consumption of literature in homemaking.

 In 1862, the Morrill Act was passed which established land-grant to states that were open
to women and mandated to foster scientific theories and techniques and modernized
activities associated with home economics, such as cooking, laundry, sewing, house
cleaning, care of the sick, and sanitation.

 In the 19th century, courses in domestic science were implemented. With the Lake Placid
conferences in 1899, the activists called for the teaching of Home Economics across the
state. The American Home Economics Association was formed among the conference
participants and lobbied for the funding of research and teaching of Home Economics.

 The Smith-Hughes Act mandated the importance of occupational preparation in home

economics, thus in 1917 funding was provided. It was emphasized that the study of home
 economics should prepare students for their effective discharge of duties in their
respective homes and prepare them for efficient administration of household affairs.

 In the early 1900's, home economics gained popularity as a result of urbanization,

industrialization, and immigration.

 The Vocational Education Act of 1963 diminished the funding that the field had been
receiving from the Smith-Hughes Act. Funding was only to be provided for Home
Economics education that led to gainful employment.

 In the 1960s and 1970s, home economics came under fire with changing societal norms
for women at home and in the workplace. Many schools dropped these programs and in
some cases the educators of this profession were criticized for their lack of sympathy
towards modern feminism.

 Catherine Beecher was one of the first to champion the economics of running a home.
She argued for the importance of domestic life and sought the application of scientific
principles to childbearing, cooking and housekeeping.

 Also from the Beecher family was Harriet Beecher Stowe, an American abolitionist and
author and is best known for her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin 6. Both Catherine and Harriet
were leaders in mid-19th century North America in talking about domestic science. They
came from a very religious family that valued education especially for women.

 The Morrill Act of 1862 propelled domestic science further ahead as land grant colleges
sought to educate farm wives in running their households as their husbands were being
educated in agricultural methods and processes.

 In the last decades of the nineteenth century, the land-grant schools, along with a few
private institutions, established courses of instruction in what was generally called
"domestic Science."

 Late in the 19th century, Richards convened a group of contemporaries to discuss the
essence of domestic science and how the elements of this discipline would ultimately
improve the quality of life for many individuals and families. A home economics class
was started in 1911 in Toronto and was named as Oekology or the science of right living
 or Euthenics, the science of controllable environment. Ultimately, "Home Economics"
was chosen as the official term in 1899.

 Beginning in 1899 Richard, along with Melvin Dewey and other educators and activists,
organized a series of annual gatherings that became known as the Lake Placid
Conferences. These educators worked tirelessly to elevate the discipline, which was to
become home economics, to a legitimate profession.

 Conference participants formed the American Home Economics Association (AHEA).

This organization effectively lobbied federal and state governments to provide funding
for home economics research and teaching, including adult education work through
agricultural extension services, leading to the rapid expansion of educational programs in
1908.

 In 1993, American Home Economics Association was changed to American Association

of Family and Consumer Sciences during Scottsdale Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona.