University of Massachusetts Amherst. College of Natural Resources and the Environment

Contains annual reports, Board of Control minutes, Joseph B. Lindsey letter copy book (1890-1900), bulletins, and photo albums (1882-1895).

Included in this series are maps, statistical charts and tables of land use and growth in many of the towns in Massachusetts for the period from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s.

In 1918 a new law providing for county extension work was passed by the Massachusetts Legislature which stipulated that county extension services had to be administered under local boards of trustees. This “home rule” policy for extension was supported by President Butterfield who believed that extension services should be administered and controlled by the constituency that they served. This degree of local administration was the first of its kind in the nation.

In the 1930s, the Extension Service developed educational materials for the federal government.
The Cooperative Extension Service responded to World War II by identifying local leaders and coordinating Extension with other agencies assisting farmers with maintaining or increasing production. Since 1947, when Massachusetts State College became the University of Massachusetts, the Extension Service has undergone organizational changes and widened its responsibilities. Formerly used only in reference to crops and other farm products, agriculture was redefined and expanded to include all the processes through which farm products pass before reaching the consumer. It came to apply to problems affecting the use of natural resources and environmental influences, which led to new staff appointments in such fields as resource development, environmental science, food processing and marketing.

In the years following WWII, Cooperative Extension took an active role in assisting other countries with establishing extension services. The result was cooperative agreements between the University of Massachusetts and institutions in Japan (University of Hokkaido), West Germany, Vietnam and others; and in 1963, the University and the Agency for International Development signed a contract to carry out an agricultural training program in Malawi, Africa.

In 1996, UMass Extension was moved from the College of Food and Natural Resources to University Outreach and, John Gerber was then appointed Director of UMass Extension. In 2000, Stephen Demski assumed the role of Interim Director of UMass Extension and Associate Vice Chancellor University Outreach.

Consists of annual, directors’, and project reports; histories; committee records; course materials; subject files; bulletins, leaflets, circulars, newsletters, newsclippings, and press releases; and other published materials.

Prior to 1916 there were very few women students at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. Some took class as early as 1892; however, it was not until 1905 that undergraduate women first received degrees. Between 1910 and 1923, 47 women attended the College and 37 graduated. Their extracurricular activities included holding class offices, Landscape Art Club, Florist and Gardeners Club, as well as fellowship at Delta Phi Gamma, the first sorority on campus. Additional women faculty and new curriculum were established that would meet the needs of these early women students. Starting in 1916, a historic point in time, women would appear thereafter in every graduating class.

The first home economics course offered at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Foods and Conservation, was offered as part of the ten weeks Winter School of the 1917-1918 college year. As they lacked their own facilities, students (the majority were women) used the Amherst High School laboratory on Saturday mornings for the laboratory work.

In 1919, Edna Lucy Skinner was hired as Professor of Home Economics and head of that new program at Massachusetts Agricultural College. Under her leadership (1919-1946), the program grew from a Department in 1924, to a Division in 1928 and then a separate School in 1945, with Edna Skinner as Dean. As of 1921, the Department of Home Economics was offering to women students elective courses only; and for the first time, a full-time instructor was available, which resulted in an increased interest and impetus in this work. The increasing interest in these courses, and the demand from the women students for additional work, together with urgent requests from many High School girls who wished to attend the Massachusetts Agricultural College and pursue a major in Home Economics supplied impetus for developing a full Home Economics program. Their goal was to develop a course in Home Economics, which would emphasize home making as a fundamental vocation for young women.

In 1930, the Home Economics Department printed a brochure titled “Instruction in Home Economics, which encouraged women to study home economics at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. The study of Home Economics offered “the modern girl” the opportunity to take courses which would be both broadening and satisfying as she pursued her chosen vocation or profession. The first graduate work in home economics was done in 1935-1936 by Dorothy Doran; Gladys Cook received the first Masters of Science in Home Economics in 1936. Helen S. Mitchell joined the Department of Home Economics faculty in 1935.

During World War II, undergraduate women at the Massachusetts State College were offered many more opportunities in higher education; especially in the sciences. As the WWII veterans returned home and went to college, Mass State College saw a decline of women’s enrollment in the sciences. However, women enrolled at the College were evenly divided between majors in the liberal arts, physical and biological sciences, and Home Economics. In 1945, the Division of Home Economics became the School of Home Economics with Helen Michell appointed its second Dean in 1946, serving until 1960 when she retired.

In 1947, when the Massachusetts State College became the University of Massachusetts, both the University’s undergraduate and graduate programs were expanded. Though women had made great gains during the war, they still faced traditional thinking in the post-war years. In his 1950 Annual Report, President Van Meter rationalized that women attending college could best prepare themselves for their life’s work by taking Home Economics classes. In 1973 the School of Home Economics became the Division of Home Economics (1973-1991). Later reorganization resulted in Human Nutrition and Foods being moved within the College of Food and Natural Resources, under the Department of Food Science; and Human Development was transferred to the School of Education.

In 1985, an extensive external review of the Home Economics Division’s organization was conducted following a period of internal strife and a yearlong search for a permanent director. In 1988 Penny A. Ralston was appointed as Head Division of Home Economics, serving until 1992; when Sheila Mammen, Associate Professor of Consumer Studies, was appointed head.
In 1991 the Division of Home Economics became the Department of Consumer Studies reflecting the multi-disciplinary focus of the department. Two majors were offered at this time, Apparel Marketing and Family, and Consumer Sciences. Also, in 1991, as part of Cooperative Extension’s reorganization, three program coordinators joined the Department of Consumer Studies on an interim basis.

In 2000 the Apparel Marketing program was eliminated. Due to budget concerns and a lack of a critical mass of faculty members to meet its curriculum obligations, the Department of Consumer Studies was eliminated in December of 2001, with the Board of Trustees approving tenure for the four Consumer Studies faculty members, as they transferred into different departments at UMass. The Family and Consumer Sciences program, within Consumer Studies, was thereafter transferred to the department of Economic Resources.

Formerly the Home Economics Division.