In 1906, the Iowa General Assembly appropriated funds to establish a Department of Extension at Iowa State College (University). Home Economics Extension began with the outreach efforts of Mary B. Welch, who gave home economics lectures in the early 1880s to women throughout Iowa. Later, home economics became a regular feature of short courses alongside agriculture. By the passage of the Smith-Lever Act in 1914, home economics work required specialists in several areas. In September 1916, the first home demonstration agent was hired by the Black Hawk County Farm Bureau. Home demonstration agents provided information and training in areas such as nutrition, clothing, home furnishing, home management, and child care. The collection contains pamphlets and brochures, handbooks, information packets, mimeographed program materials, short course materials, specialist plans of work, and training materials. It documents general Home Economics Extension programming, as well as programming in the specialist areas of Child Development and Family Relations, Home Management, and Textiles and Clothing.

In 1906, the Iowa General Assembly appropriated funds to establish a Department of Extension at Iowa State College (University). Extension work in Iowa began earlier through the pioneering efforts of several people, including Mary B. Welch, James Wilson, and Perry Holden. Holden was appointed the first superintendent of Extension at Iowa State from 1906 to 1912. He focused on three branches of Extension work: demonstration farms, short courses, and education trains. In 1914, the U.S. Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act, creating a nationwide system of cooperative extension services that provide outreach activities through land-grant universities. The Act brought together funding at the national, state, and county levels to support the work of these cooperative extension services, and the program was administered through the United States Department of Agriculture. At ISU, the Department of Extension became Cooperative Extension Service in Agriculture and Home Economics. In 1966, University Extension was established by merging the short courses service group, farm demonstrations service group, engineering extension service group, and Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS, established in 1962). In 2006, University Extension became Extension and Outreach.

Home Economics Extension began with the outreach efforts of Mary B. Welch, wife of Iowa State College’s first president, Adonijah Welch. Mrs. Welch gave six lectures on home economics to a group of sixty women in Des Moines around 1882-1883 and lectured throughout the state. Later, home economics became a regular feature of short courses alongside agriculture, and demand was often higher than the ability to meet it. By the time of the Smith-Lever Act, home economics work was becoming more specialized, with demand for more extensive information and training in areas such as nutrition, clothing, home furnishing, home management, and child care. In September 1916, the first home demonstration agent, Tura Hawk, was hired by the Black Hawk County Farm Bureau. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, county farm bureaus organized to promote food production for the war. At the same time, the farm bureaus began hiring home demonstration agents all over the state.

Early heads of Home Economics Extension were:

• Mary F. Rausch (1906-1907)
• Edith Charlton (1907-1909)
• Neale S. Knowles (1909-1934)
• Sarah Porter Ellis (1934-1943)
• Louise Rosenfeld (1943-1972)

Extension and Outreach continues to provide programming and support for areas of concern to families including nutrition and wellness, family finances, caregiving, childcare and education, and reducing poverty.

Sources

Bliss, Ralph K. History of Cooperative Agriculture and Home Economics Extension in Iowa--The First Fifty Years. Ames, IA: Iowa State University of Science and Technology, 1960.

Schwieder, Dorothy. 75 Years of Service: Cooperative Extension in Iowa. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1993.

This collection (1935-1974, undated) contains pamphlets and brochures, handbooks, information packets, mimeographed program materials, short course materials, specialist plans of work, and training materials. It documents general Home Economics Extension programming, as well as programming in the specialist areas of Child Development and Family Relations, Home Management, and Textiles and Clothing.

Related collections in the Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library include:

• University Extension Annual Reports (RS 16/1/0/1)
• University Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Program Files (RS 16/3/3/2)
• University Extension Food and Nutrition Program Files (RS 16/3/3/3)
• University Extension Records (RS 16)
• College of Family and Consumer Sciences Records (RS 12)

The files are arranged alphabetically.