UA 102.018 Guide to the North Carolina State University Department of Family and Consumer Sciences Records, 1903 - 1981 (Bulk, 1930-1970)

Creator

North Carolina State University. Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Quantity

13.5 Linear feet

General Physical Description note

26 archival storage boxes

Location

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Special Collections Research Center Reference Staff.

Language

English

Acquisitions Information

Transferred from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences offices.

Processing

Processed by: Stephanie Horowitz;machine-readable finding aid created by: Stephanie Horowitz

Revised

2012, <date calendar="gregorian" era="ce">April 2007</date><item> This finding aid was updated by Todd Kosmerick.</item>; Updated by Beverly King, 2012 May

Scope and Content Note

The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences Records contain files relating to the activities of the department from 1903 through 1981. Although the records contain files concerning the department before its inception (relating to "father" of extension Seaman Knapp) through the early 1980s, the bulk of the files are from 1930 - 1970. Although the title of the records is based on the organization's current name, they therefore include files only from when the organization was called "Home Demonstration" and "Home Economics." The records are arranged into five series. The General Records contain the bulk of the files. This series is followed by Staff Records, Farm and Home Week, National Home Demonstration Week, and Oversized Records. Records have been maintained in the order in which they were found in almost all cases. Folder names have generally been left as they were, although some have been altered for improved clarity. Further, records previously labeled "Historical Information" have been combined with General Records because their contents did not differ significantly. More detailed scope and content notes may be found below at the beginning of each of the separate series.

Historical Note

The Family and Consumer Sciences department of North Carolina State University's Cooperative Extension Service was originally known as Home Demonstration, and it evolved out of the efforts of Ira Obed Schaub, Jane S. McKimmon, and others, to develop farm boys' and girls' clubs. The girls' clubs worked under the direction of McKimmon and other agents to sell home-canned tomatoes, which expanded into other canning activities. These clubs eventually became known as 4-H clubs.

In 1909, McKimmon became an instructor at farmer's institutes, where she instructed the girls, along with their parents, on canning as well as what she called other "housewifely arts." By October of 1911, the General Education Board (originally established by the Rockefeller Foundation) had made a sum of $300 available to employ a woman home demonstration agent in each of the southern states. Schaub, the North Carolina State College extention boys' and girls' club agent at the time, hired McKimmon to take this position, which began on November 1, 1911. McKimmon organized the service so that fourteen pioneer counties each hired, for a small salary, a county home demonstration agent who could reach families on a more personal level.

Initially, these agents were hired only for two months during the canning and growing seasons. They soon realized, however, that the job would require much more time, due to the effort needed for organization, gardening, and marketing. After the first year, agents were hired to work for a full year.

At this point, the home demonstration work was still intended mainly for farm girls. However, by the summer of 1912, many mothers began attending canning schools with their daughters and became interested in learning other things as well. By 1913, women's clubs had been organized in each county where there was a home demonstration agent stationed, and by the end of 1914 there were thirty-two counties organized with an enrollment of 1500 members. As the organization kept growing, McKimmon and others made the decision in 1916 to split the women's home demonstration clubs and the girls' 4-H clubs. The first six African American home demonstration agents were appointed in 1922 to work exclusively with African American farm women.

Most of the home demonstration projects in the first few years directly related to commodities that could be sold to increase the family income. Women and girls sold canned goods, eggs, poultry, ham, turnip greens, and fresh vegetables, and by doing so were able to earn a small amount of money. Some of them used that money for labor-saving devices for the home. One popular device was the fireless cooker, which allowed farm women to cook poultry while they were doing other necessary work on the farm. The home demonstration clubs eventually branched out from food-related instruction to include things such as cleaning, increased storage space, and sewing clothing and hats.

By the 1930s, home demonstration clubs had been firmly established all over North Carolina, and during the Great Depression agents concentrated on relief gardens, curb markets, food conservation, and clothing construction. In 1933, 140,000 relief gardens were reported, and about thirty curb markets were accounting for $300,000 annually in sales. By the end of World War II, the home demonstration club program had 55,185 total members in 2175 clubs. Of these, 12,952 members were African American in 587 home demonstration clubs. The program was labeled the most strongly organized educational group in North Carolina by the 1945 Extension Service annual report. That same year, Home Demonstration established the family life relations section. By 1950, home demonstration clubs began health and community improvement drives, and agents were helping members with financial planning and preparation of wills.

The 1960s saw the newly named home economics program, subsidized by the federal government, becoming concerned specifically with the problems of low-income families. Home economists established centers in Mecklenburg, Forsyth, Robeson, Scotland, and Richmond counties. The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), which was designed to improve the nutrition of low-income North Carolina families, was established in February 1969. By the late 1970s, special programs were being enacted for the elderly, concerning nutrition and health, consumer education, income management, energy conservation, crime prevention, and intergenerational education. In 1978, home economics became a department at North Carolina State University.

In 1995, the name changed again to the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS). The faculty has worked in fields such as nutrition, human development, parenting, aging, housing, health, and family resource management. The department has also worked cooperatively with FCS field agents, also known as county field faculty. Field and department faculty have worked together to develop and implement educational programs for families. In 2006 the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H Youth Development were combined into one unit under the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.

Controlled Terms

1. 4-H clubs--North Carolina
2. Agricultural education--North Carolina
3. Agricultural extension work--North Carolina
4. Current, Ruth Augusta, 1901-1967
5. Farm and Home Week.
6. Home demonstration work--North Carolina
7. Home economics--North Carolina
8. McKimmon, Jane Simpson, 1867-1957
9. North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.
10. Rural extension--North Carolina
11. Rural women

Related Materials

North Carolina State University Archives Photograph Collection, Home Demonstration Work (UA 023.009)

North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Records (UA 100)

North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service Records (UA 102)

North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service Annual Reports (UA 102.002)

North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service, 4-H Youth Development (UA 102.010)

North Carolina Extension and Community Association Records (UA 102.052)

North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service Publications (UA 102.200)

Access to Collection

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Mail

Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111

Telephone

(919) 515-2273

Fax

(919) 513-1787

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], North Carolina State University Department of Family and Consumer Sciences Records, UA 102.018, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

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