Q. You spoke about Van Rensselaer’s excellence as a communicator. Can you elaborate?
A. As primary caretakers for the home, women carried a tremendous responsibility for their family’s health. Her ability to translate scientific information so effectively for rural communities was remarkable. She was respectful, warm and used storytelling to suggest practical tips without judgement.
"For coughing and sneezing ‘in the open’ there is no excuse. A handkerchief should be within easy reach to catch the offending spray from the mouth and nostrils. The truth of this statement is an argument for a pocket in a woman's dress, in which to keep the handkerchief." —Martha Van Rensselaer, 1913
Q. What made you focus on the sanitation bulletins?
A. When I applied for the fellowship, I started with a few possible threads: housing research with Glenn Beyer; Flora Rose’s work on nutrition as a way of preventing tuberculosis in children. Somewhere along the way I started reading the Farmers’ Wives’ sanitation bulletins. As soon as I began reading, I knew they had to be my focus.
Q. Is that open-mindedness typical when asking a research question?
A. Absolutely. You have to enter research with an open mind. Imagine if scientists searching for the COVID vaccine hadn't been open to mRNA technology. We might not be where we are today.
I started following several threads, and honestly, it was hard to let them go because they were so fascinating.
Q. Why is it important to look back at these archival documents?
A. Today we have many preventable diseases, so it’s important to ask: where were we when these diseases could not be prevented? What did people do then?
Van Rensselaer’s collaboration with others was essential. She reached out to faculty experts in other fields asking for their help.
It can be hard to admit you don’t know and to ask for help. That's something that we need to do more of today. There’s so much mistrust. People need to feel comfortable trusting the science that's coming out of our institutions.
You can't do all your own research, no matter how much you read, even if you're reading just academic peer-reviewed journals.
Q. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
A. I hope that more people get excited to explore the CHE archives. You don’t know what you're going to find! There are so many lessons that we can take from it.
I really hope people start to look at the current topics that they're interested in and ask what was going on 100 years ago? Or 50 years ago? It's just such a rich collection.
0:00 Okay. Thanks so much for coming.
0:03 We're in the perfect room for an event about the history of the college, and I want to just thank the village,
0:11 also known as the College of Human Ecology,
0:13 that pitched in to bring this event to fruition. It's been a great team effort.
0:20 So I'm really pleased that we can be here together to celebrate the history of the College of Human Ecology.
0:25 This is an annual event in honor of an opportunity for the fellow, the annual fellow, to share the research that's been done.
0:34 And, I'm pleased to introduce our 2025 fellow.
0:40 Tara Pearson is the 2025 Dean's Archival Research Summer Graduate Fellow.
0:47 And as a PhD student in the graduate field of Design and Environmental Analysis and in the Department of Human Centered Design,
0:54 Tara explores the potential for design to positively impact emotional experience and to bolster well-being.
1:02 Her current research examines the role of visual aesthetics in eliciting experiences of delight in our environment.
1:10 And Tara has a really remarkable educational background in both public health and in architectural design.
1:18 And her perspective and the research that you'll hear about today clearly draws on that background.
1:24 She earned a master of science degree in bio hazardous threat agents and emerging infectious disease from Georgetown,
1:32 and then subsequently a master of architecture degree from Syracuse University.
1:37 Tara has taught architectural design studios, coursework in graphic design, and in 2022,
1:44 she launched a course that she created,
1:46 exploring disease-driven architectural innovation throughout history, throughout history, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
1:53 And that was during her time at Syracuse University. Alongside her design research focus,
2:00 Tara continues to pursue her long-term interests in the histories of human resilience and innovation in the face of pathogenic threats,
2:10 and how these histories relate to modern-day beliefs, policies, and practices.
2:17 As the 2025 College of Human Ecology Dean's Archival Research Fellow,
2:22 she's followed that thread deep into the archives,
2:25 exploring some of the college's earliest moments in community-engaged research and curriculum development between 1900 and 1920.
2:35 Please join me in welcoming Tara.
2:47 Thank you so much for that introduction. I'm Tara. Thank you all for being here. So before I begin,
2:54 I'd like to express my gratitude to the dean and the College of Human Ecology for supporting this project. To the Rare and Manuscript Archives for stewarding such an incredible collection.
3:04 To Professor Nancy Wells for her guidance in the earliest days of this research, through this presentation, and to my advisor,
3:11 Professor So-Yeon Yoon, for her support and her patience for letting me take on this passion project.
3:20 So what inspired this project?
3:22 Well, if you look at the image in the upper left,
3:24 you'll see a map of measles cases across the United States as of the last week. On the bottom right,
3:30 you'll see measles cases by year since 2025. As you can see, we've had a pretty sharp rise. In the upper right,
3:37 you'll see a headline from an FDA outbreak investigation involving E. coli and raw cheddar cheese.
3:43 These are just some of the diseases we have the tools to prevent. And yet here we are.
3:48 We're living through a moment of rising misinformation and growing distrust of science and academic institutions.
3:54 But rather than debate about where we are now, I wanted to go back and look at where we, the College of Human Ecology, came from.
4:01 Cornell's College of Agriculture was already working directly with farmers across the state.
4:06 But how did the university begin extending that same partnership to women?
4:10 How did it look when an institution asked rural women what they most needed to know,
4:16 and then got them that information in a way that they could reasonably put to use?
4:20 I had a feeling that there was more to Martha Van Rensselaer’s story than just helping women create efficiency in their homes. Not that that wasn't awesome.
4:29 So she knew these women's struggles and the deep losses that they faced when their family members, their babies, died from these diseases.
4:37 She also knew that they were intelligent and incredibly capable.
4:41 So the story you'll hear today is about how she approached supporting rural women with up-to-date scientific information delivered in a clear, approachable
4:50 and practical way that they could put to use, all in an era when society had thrust upon them the very heavy responsibility of family health.
5:00 And so here we go.
5:02 Now let's jump into the research questions that underpin this presentation.
5:06 So we'll move forward through this timeline from here.
5:08 So you'll see this pop up a few more times.
5:10 In approaching this project I had three main research questions. So first,
5:14 what kinds of science based information you know about disease prevention was part of the earliest home economics curriculum and how did it evolve?
5:23 How was this information translated into practical guidance for rural communities? And third,
5:29 how was this curriculum employed for in-person courses,
5:32 since the Department of Home Economics was officially established in 1907? So to answer these questions,
5:39 I spent this past summer and much of the fall reviewing original source material from the colleges, the colleges collection in the Rare and Manuscripts Archive.
5:48 So the material includes the Farmers’ Wives; Reading Course bulletins, course lists from the College of Agriculture's winter courses,
5:55 and the regular academic year offerings from 1900 to 1920, correspondence between faculty and staff,
6:02 and even the women participating in the reading courses themselves.
6:05 These materials offered insight into Van Rensselaer’s intent for including scientific sanitation lessons,
6:11 both in the reading course and in academic courses on campus.
6:16 So now I'd really like to set the stage with a quote from Van Rensselaer as she related to her co-director, Flora Rose.
6:22 She wanted to learn about the bacteriology of the dishcloth so she could explain to farm women the importance of its cleanliness.
6:29 She wanted them to understand the why that they needed to know,
6:33 rather than just being told to blindly follow instructions. And so look at what she was up against.
6:38 When she approached a bacteriology professor at Cornell for his help,
6:41 who she was kind enough to leave unnamed his response was:
6:46 just teach them to keep it clean because it's nicer that way.
6:50 So, as you'll see, Van Rensselaer clearly ignored that advice.
6:56 So now let's take a look at the context or the disease landscape these women were all living in.
7:02 To paint a picture of disease prevalence in 1900,
7:04 I've zoomed in on a portion of a bulletin that New York's Board of Health published in April of that year.
7:10 I've highlighted typhoid and tuberculosis.
7:12 These are two diseases that we're going to see referenced again and again.
7:16 You may notice several diseases that are now preventable that are popping up again today, measles and whooping cough among them.
7:23 I've circled “zymotic diseases” there at the top to illustrate where scientific knowledge was about disease at that time. So this was a major period of transition.
7:32 The term “zymotic” comes from an older theory relating to disease being brought on by fermentation. This was a bridge between miasma theory,
7:40 which blamed disease on bad odors and bad air, and then germ theory, which, you know,
7:46 identified specific microorganisms as the cause of disease. So in 1900,
7:51 there actually was still quite a bit of resistance to germ theory.
7:56 This list gives you a sense of where prevention and treatment stood for each of these diseases. So notice how sanitation appears in blue:
8:04 meningitis, typhoid, malaria, scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough. For most of these diseases.
8:09 sanitation and hygiene measures were the primary line of defense.
8:13 Smallpox is actually a really notable exception.
8:16 So there was a vaccine available since the 1870s, and New York actually made it compulsory for their public schools in 1893.
8:24 That was really a big deal. But for others, the tools were very limited.
8:29 Technically, typhoid had a vaccine by 1896,
8:33 but this was mostly used by military personnel in Europe and wasn't widespread used in the U.S.
8:37 They really focus more on sanitation practices.
8:40 But our army did eventually take advantage of it, during the First World War, which was pretty impactful.
8:46 But in 1900, sanitation and hygiene measures were the primary way to protect your family.
8:53 So tuberculosis was also known as consumption or phthisis, if I'm even saying that right. It was devastating. In the 1880s,
9:01 it killed 1 in 7 people in the U.S. and in Europe.
9:04 The bacterium that causes it was discovered in 1882,
9:08 finally proving that tuberculosis wasn't hereditary, which was one of the widespread beliefs at the time.
9:15 Unfortunately, antibiotic treatment didn't show up until like the 1940s.
9:20 So TB was spread primarily through the air, person to person.
9:24 But it could be transmitted through contaminated milk from cattle that were infected with bovine tuberculosis, because we can get bovine tuberculosis.
9:31 So this was a huge concern for families, especially those with children,
9:35 because milk was a major food staple at the time.
9:40 As for typhoid, it was well known at that time that contaminated water supplies could cause typhoid fever. In fact,
9:46 the 1903 outbreak right here in Ithaca was one of the last major water contamination-related outbreaks in the United States,
9:54 and it could have been prevented. So about 1300 people were sickened. That's roughly 1 in 10 residents.
10:01 At at least 85 people died, including 29 Cornell students. Prior to the outbreak,
10:07 the private water company had refused to invest in water purification systems,
10:12 which led directly to contaminated water reaching the public. After the epidemic,
10:17 I'm glad to say that Ithaca’s water became publicly controlled. So this is a really great, although pretty sad,
10:24 lesson in why critical services really should not be left entirely to private interests. In cities,
10:31 standardized sewage and waste disposal, clean drinking water, modern plumbing fixtures, these were becoming more and more common.
10:37 But rural farm homes, regardless of wealth, they were usually a different matter.
10:41 So clean drinking water wasn't guaranteed,
10:43 poor drainage and faulty plumbing often led to contaminated drinking water supplies.
10:49 Unhygienic practices like shared public drinking cups, lack of handwashing, and unsterilized food containers was widespread.
10:57 As you can imagine, the conditions were ripe for typhoid,
11:00 which was spread through contaminated water or food and drink products,
11:04 and also by flies that would pick up bacteria from open outhouses and animal waste around the farms, and carry that directly to people's food.
11:14 So that was the world Martha Van Rensselaer was living in when she stepped onto Cornell's campus in 1900. But who was she?
11:22 Well, Van Rensselaer was an educator through and through,
11:25 and you can see her background or much of it on the slide.
11:28 But the thing I want to draw your attention to was this. In 1894,
11:32 she was elected commissioner for Cattaraugus County,
11:37 the school commissioner for Cattaraugus County. So that position, which was a six-year term,
11:42 put her in direct contact with rural communities across western New York.
11:45 And so this gave her the chance to get to know rural women and their issues very well.
11:50 So by the time she connected with Cornell's Liberty Hyde Bailey in 1900, she already knew she wanted to serve these women.
11:59 Bailey, a professor and later the dean of the College of Agriculture,
12:02 he had already seen the success of the Farmers’ Reading Course. This was like the men's version,
12:06 and he noticed a similar need for rural women,
12:09 and he wanted to create a parallel course for farmers’ wives.
12:13 And so Van Rensselaer, she had come highly recommended by one of his colleagues.
12:17 The image on the right is a draft of the letter that Bailey sent to farmers’ wives,
12:21 which is included in an issue of the Farmer's Reading Course.
12:27 and he's kind of surprisingly frank about it. So listen to how Bailey frames this.
12:32 He writes: “of 100 widows with a family of children and a farm, we are sure a larger percentage will make a success in the single-handed struggle
12:40 than with the same number of widowers in the same condition.”
12:49 That's pretty frank,
12:50 but he's really acknowledging how capable and important farm women are.
12:58 we want you, each of you, to talk back…
13:03 called upon to tell us that we're wrong.”
13:13 but he reiterates that he wants women to write in and tell them what they're most interested in hearing.
13:20 So with that, let's jump into what types of information and advice were covered in the sanitation-focused bulletins throughout the Reading Course.
13:26 So having reviewed many, many bulletins,
13:33 I noticed that sanitation measures made their way into a ton of the publications.
13:37 So this timeline highlights the issues that contained some level of sanitation focus.
13:41 It's nowhere near the number of actual publications that they put out.
13:50 and they're primarily written by Van Rensselaer.
13:55 these are written by other faculty and guest authors that are part of the industries.
14:02 the second editions and the later revisions.
14:07 The blue kind of green color marks where sanitation was mentioned, but it wasn't really the main focus.
14:12 And then that blue to magenta gradient represents in-person courses.
14:16 And many of those did include sanitation content.
14:19 So you'll see this timeline pop up again and again between each set of bulletins.
14:27 So one of the things that struck me in the archives was the evidence of how actively Van Rensselaer sought input before writing bulletins.
14:35 And so this letter is just one example.
14:37 So shortly after the first issue was published, that was Saving Steps,
14:41 she reached out to the Federation of Women's Literary and Educational Organizations,
14:45 which was a network that she was connected with through her work in Western New York.
14:48 She's letting them know that home sanitation, the next bulletin, is in preparation, but more importantly,
14:56 she is asking them to discuss the topic in their clubs and to send their thoughts.
15:05 She specifies that this will be about rural problems.
15:13 She's designing this for her audience, along with her audience.
15:17 So once Home Sanitation was ready to publish, it was advertised.
15:21 This is actually a printer's proof of an ad included in the Farmers’ Reading Course.
15:30 The language is actually pretty telling and it's also charming.
15:34 It acknowledges the difficulty of sanitation in rural areas.
15:43 Then it pivots to practicality.
15:54 “this little pamphlet sets forth many simple ways to improve the comforts and healthfulness of the home.”
16:03 maybe even a little wink.
16:05 Home Sanitation went through three editions.
16:08 So Van Rensselaer revised it each time to reflect new scientific understanding.
16:14 April 1901, December 1901, and November 1904.
16:21 But before I walk you through the changes, it's worth understanding how this bulletin works.
16:26 This isn't a list of instructions. This is a story.
16:30 Van Rensselaer creates a fictional farm family.
16:34 and she walks the reader through unsanitary living conditions.
16:39 She includes consequences:
16:46 four of the children have died.
16:53 She's really tugging at their heartstrings.
16:58 But these losses were common.
17:06 Then it takes an upward turn.
17:14 They drill a new well, test water, improve ventilation.
17:21 The cleanliness is transformed.
17:29 She's incredibly respectful.
17:33 She avoids blaming readers’ lifestyles.
17:39 She knew readers might feel defensive.
17:43 And she met that with kindness.
17:47 So now I'm going to walk you through key changes between editions.
17:50 The tables track disease- and germ-related changes.
17:59 So as you can see, there were many.
18:01 I'll highlight a couple examples.
18:04 In April 1901, a contaminated brook outbreak is attributed to scarlet fever.
18:11 But scarlet fever is transmitted person-to-person.
18:15 By December 1901, she corrects it.
18:26 She switches to a proper waterborne disease.
18:40 The term miasma is replaced with malaria and mosquitoes.
18:51 Reflecting advances in vector-borne disease science.
18:58 A couple quick changes here.
19:01 Flies and manure appear in 1904.
19:08 Reflecting knowledge of insects as disease vectors.
19:14 She adds school water supply impacts.
19:24 Expanding to community-level responsibility.
19:32 She brings sanitation beyond the household.
19:46 She references the water closet.
19:49 Points to future bulletins.
20:07 So those were the Home Sanitation bulletins.
20:11 Now we're moving to Germ Life bulletins.
20:18 First published in December 1903.
20:22 Shortly after the Ithaca epidemic.
20:25 A second talk came in 1904.
20:29 These marked a major shift.
20:34 She drops narrative storytelling.
20:41 She explains bacteria, transmission, disinfection.
20:47 In 1904, she introduces the carrier state.
20:54 A sophisticated concept.
21:03 Asymptomatic transmission.
21:10 This predates widespread public knowledge.
21:14 Scarlet fever and measles are distinguished.
21:22 She separates bacteria from “virus.”
21:28 “Virus” meaning unknown infectious agent.
21:35 Recognition of different microorganisms.
21:57 Updates to pasteurization standards.
22:05 Focus on milk safety.
22:13 In 1903: vague immune explanations.
22:18 By 1904: detailed immunology.
22:25 Leucocytes, serum, infection pathways.
22:35 A major leap in scientific literacy.
22:41 By 1904, she has built a foundation.
22:49 Next bulletins push into practical application.
22:55 One major issue: impure milk.
23:04 Unsanitary and adulterated products.
23:12 Especially dangerous for children.
23:20 Addressed in “Dust as Related to Food.”
23:29 Contributions from multiple authors.
23:46 Each brings a different approach.
23:59 In 1909, she publishes “The Bacteriology of the Household.”
24:03 Consolidates and expands prior material.
24:19 Adds practical applications and tips.
24:37 Includes coughing etiquette.
24:41 Kissing risks.
24:46 Toilet care.
24:59 Advocates for handkerchief use.
25:20 So we've been moving quickly.
25:22 Much content omitted.
25:26 We've seen how content evolved.
25:31 Now turning to communication methods.
25:38 Returning to “Dust as Related to Food.”
25:44 Three communication approaches:
25:48 Elliott: metaphor and familiarity.
25:52 gardening and breadmaking.
25:56 Pearson: numerical comparisons.
26:00 experiments and visualization.
26:05 Van Rensselaer: storytelling.
26:15 Maria Elliott: household bacteriologist.
26:23 Trained under Ellen Swallow Richards.
26:30 Pioneer in sanitation science.
26:39 Taught women experimental methods.
26:44 Plate cultures at home.
26:52 Women doing their own research.
27:08 Van Rensselaer condensed material.
27:14 Her bulletin was ~20 pages.
27:25 Elliott’s was 150+ pages.
27:32 She uses a garden metaphor.
27:39 Demonstrates dust experiments.
27:45 Shows contamination patterns visually.
27:51 Demonstrates tool effectiveness.
28:07 Covers advanced microbiology concepts.
28:13 Wide range of topics.
28:31 Includes prevention methods.
28:43 Raymond Pearson: dairy expert.
28:52 Involved in dairy regulation.
29:03 Developed inspection scorecards.
29:10 Active in policy and industry.
29:17 Uses quantitative approach.
29:23 Establishes contamination baselines.
29:31 Tests contamination sources.
29:49 Demonstrates bacterial growth.
29:59 From thousands to millions.
30:08 Lets numbers drive understanding.
30:18 Also gives practical tips.
30:40 Van Rensselaer closes with storytelling.
30:46 Uses humor and relatable scenarios.
30:53 Expands sanitation beyond the home.
31:05 Describes real-life situations.
31:11 Example: hotel food contamination.
31:19 Demonstrates cross-contamination.
31:29 Lessons without technical terms.
31:46 Now shifting to classroom instruction.
31:56 Early courses in the College of Agriculture.
32:03 “Woman’s Work and Domestic Science.”
32:11 Later: “Home Economics.”
32:19 Covers sanitation, food, health.
32:28 Offered during academic term and winter.
32:37 Seasonal accessibility.
32:49 Winter course established 1906–1907.
32:55 Split into sub-courses.
33:01 Focus on science-based topics.
33:11 Hygiene and physiology.
33:18 Laundry chemistry and disinfection.
33:28 Household bacteriology lectures.
33:45 1907–1908: Home Economics becomes a department.
33:53 First independent courses.
34:00 Sanitation appears across curriculum.
34:16 Food preparation and adulteration.
34:22 Dairy bacteriology introduced.
34:27 Requires laboratory training.
34:40 Evidence of course materials.
34:47 Assignments from 1916 and 1920.
34:55 Earlier materials not found.
35:01 Course also called Household Bacteriology.
35:07 Student example: Mary Moore.
35:20 Includes pathogen tables.
35:30 Infection pathways and diagrams.
35:36 Final exams included.
35:45 Multi-part exams.
35:53 Health in the Home course.
36:01 Community health topics.
36:07 Air, food handling, sanitation.
36:14 Public health issues.
36:19 Rural-specific challenges.
36:26 University-level microbiology for Home Economics students.
36:35 Rooted in Van Rensselaer’s earlier work.
36:35 So just to close, what we've seen today
36:39 is a set of bulletins and programs.
36:46 A partnership between university and community.
36:49 Van Rensselaer respected rural women’s intelligence.
36:53 She explained the “why” behind the “what.”
36:57 She treated women as partners in learning.
37:03 She built scientific literacy for everyday decisions.
37:12 Thank you.
0:03 We're in the perfect room for an event about the history of the college, and I want to just thank the village,
0:11 also known as the College of Human Ecology,
0:13 that pitched in to bring this event to fruition. It's been a great team effort.
0:20 So I'm really pleased that we can be here together to celebrate the history of the College of Human Ecology.
0:25 This is an annual event in honor of an opportunity for the fellow, the annual fellow, to share the research that's been done.
0:34 And, I'm pleased to introduce our 2025 fellow.
0:40 Tara Pearson is the 2025 Dean's Archival Research Summer Graduate Fellow.
0:47 And as a PhD student in the graduate field of Design and Environmental Analysis and in the Department of Human Centered Design,
0:54 Tara explores the potential for design to positively impact emotional experience and to bolster well-being.
1:02 Her current research examines the role of visual aesthetics in eliciting experiences of delight in our environment.
1:10 And Tara has a really remarkable educational background in both public health and in architectural design.
1:18 And her perspective and the research that you'll hear about today clearly draws on that background.
1:24 She earned a master of science degree in bio hazardous threat agents and emerging infectious disease from Georgetown,
1:32 and then subsequently a master of architecture degree from Syracuse University.
1:37 Tara has taught architectural design studios, coursework in graphic design, and in 2022,
1:44 she launched a course that she created,
1:46 exploring disease-driven architectural innovation throughout history, throughout history, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
1:53 And that was during her time at Syracuse University. Alongside her design research focus,
2:00 Tara continues to pursue her long-term interests in the histories of human resilience and innovation in the face of pathogenic threats,
2:10 and how these histories relate to modern-day beliefs, policies, and practices.
2:17 As the 2025 College of Human Ecology Dean's Archival Research Fellow,
2:22 she's followed that thread deep into the archives,
2:25 exploring some of the college's earliest moments in community-engaged research and curriculum development between 1900 and 1920.
2:35 Please join me in welcoming Tara.
2:47 Thank you so much for that introduction. I'm Tara. Thank you all for being here. So before I begin,
2:54 I'd like to express my gratitude to the dean and the College of Human Ecology for supporting this project. To the Rare and Manuscript Archives for stewarding such an incredible collection.
3:04 To Professor Nancy Wells for her guidance in the earliest days of this research, through this presentation, and to my advisor,
3:11 Professor So-Yeon Yoon, for her support and her patience for letting me take on this passion project.
3:20 So what inspired this project?
3:22 Well, if you look at the image in the upper left,
3:24 you'll see a map of measles cases across the United States as of the last week. On the bottom right,
3:30 you'll see measles cases by year since 2025. As you can see, we've had a pretty sharp rise. In the upper right,
3:37 you'll see a headline from an FDA outbreak investigation involving E. coli and raw cheddar cheese.
3:43 These are just some of the diseases we have the tools to prevent. And yet here we are.
3:48 We're living through a moment of rising misinformation and growing distrust of science and academic institutions.
3:54 But rather than debate about where we are now, I wanted to go back and look at where we, the College of Human Ecology, came from.
4:01 Cornell's College of Agriculture was already working directly with farmers across the state.
4:06 But how did the university begin extending that same partnership to women?
4:10 How did it look when an institution asked rural women what they most needed to know,
4:16 and then got them that information in a way that they could reasonably put to use?
4:20 I had a feeling that there was more to Martha Van Rensselaer’s story than just helping women create efficiency in their homes. Not that that wasn't awesome.
4:29 So she knew these women's struggles and the deep losses that they faced when their family members, their babies, died from these diseases.
4:37 She also knew that they were intelligent and incredibly capable.
4:41 So the story you'll hear today is about how she approached supporting rural women with up-to-date scientific information delivered in a clear, approachable
4:50 and practical way that they could put to use, all in an era when society had thrust upon them the very heavy responsibility of family health.
5:00 And so here we go.
5:02 Now let's jump into the research questions that underpin this presentation.
5:06 So we'll move forward through this timeline from here.
5:08 So you'll see this pop up a few more times.
5:10 In approaching this project I had three main research questions. So first,
5:14 what kinds of science based information you know about disease prevention was part of the earliest home economics curriculum and how did it evolve?
5:23 How was this information translated into practical guidance for rural communities? And third,
5:29 how was this curriculum employed for in-person courses,
5:32 since the Department of Home Economics was officially established in 1907? So to answer these questions,
5:39 I spent this past summer and much of the fall reviewing original source material from the colleges, the colleges collection in the Rare and Manuscripts Archive.
5:48 So the material includes the Farmers’ Wives; Reading Course bulletins, course lists from the College of Agriculture's winter courses,
5:55 and the regular academic year offerings from 1900 to 1920, correspondence between faculty and staff,
6:02 and even the women participating in the reading courses themselves.
6:05 These materials offered insight into Van Rensselaer’s intent for including scientific sanitation lessons,
6:11 both in the reading course and in academic courses on campus.
6:16 So now I'd really like to set the stage with a quote from Van Rensselaer as she related to her co-director, Flora Rose.
6:22 She wanted to learn about the bacteriology of the dishcloth so she could explain to farm women the importance of its cleanliness.
6:29 She wanted them to understand the why that they needed to know,
6:33 rather than just being told to blindly follow instructions. And so look at what she was up against.
6:38 When she approached a bacteriology professor at Cornell for his help,
6:41 who she was kind enough to leave unnamed his response was:
6:46 just teach them to keep it clean because it's nicer that way.
6:50 So, as you'll see, Van Rensselaer clearly ignored that advice.
6:56 So now let's take a look at the context or the disease landscape these women were all living in.
7:02 To paint a picture of disease prevalence in 1900,
7:04 I've zoomed in on a portion of a bulletin that New York's Board of Health published in April of that year.
7:10 I've highlighted typhoid and tuberculosis.
7:12 These are two diseases that we're going to see referenced again and again.
7:16 You may notice several diseases that are now preventable that are popping up again today, measles and whooping cough among them.
7:23 I've circled “zymotic diseases” there at the top to illustrate where scientific knowledge was about disease at that time. So this was a major period of transition.
7:32 The term “zymotic” comes from an older theory relating to disease being brought on by fermentation. This was a bridge between miasma theory,
7:40 which blamed disease on bad odors and bad air, and then germ theory, which, you know,
7:46 identified specific microorganisms as the cause of disease. So in 1900,
7:51 there actually was still quite a bit of resistance to germ theory.
7:56 This list gives you a sense of where prevention and treatment stood for each of these diseases. So notice how sanitation appears in blue:
8:04 meningitis, typhoid, malaria, scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough. For most of these diseases.
8:09 sanitation and hygiene measures were the primary line of defense.
8:13 Smallpox is actually a really notable exception.
8:16 So there was a vaccine available since the 1870s, and New York actually made it compulsory for their public schools in 1893.
8:24 That was really a big deal. But for others, the tools were very limited.
8:29 Technically, typhoid had a vaccine by 1896,
8:33 but this was mostly used by military personnel in Europe and wasn't widespread used in the U.S.
8:37 They really focus more on sanitation practices.
8:40 But our army did eventually take advantage of it, during the First World War, which was pretty impactful.
8:46 But in 1900, sanitation and hygiene measures were the primary way to protect your family.
8:53 So tuberculosis was also known as consumption or phthisis, if I'm even saying that right. It was devastating. In the 1880s,
9:01 it killed 1 in 7 people in the U.S. and in Europe.
9:04 The bacterium that causes it was discovered in 1882,
9:08 finally proving that tuberculosis wasn't hereditary, which was one of the widespread beliefs at the time.
9:15 Unfortunately, antibiotic treatment didn't show up until like the 1940s.
9:20 So TB was spread primarily through the air, person to person.
9:24 But it could be transmitted through contaminated milk from cattle that were infected with bovine tuberculosis, because we can get bovine tuberculosis.
9:31 So this was a huge concern for families, especially those with children,
9:35 because milk was a major food staple at the time.
9:40 As for typhoid, it was well known at that time that contaminated water supplies could cause typhoid fever. In fact,
9:46 the 1903 outbreak right here in Ithaca was one of the last major water contamination-related outbreaks in the United States,
9:54 and it could have been prevented. So about 1300 people were sickened. That's roughly 1 in 10 residents.
10:01 At at least 85 people died, including 29 Cornell students. Prior to the outbreak,
10:07 the private water company had refused to invest in water purification systems,
10:12 which led directly to contaminated water reaching the public. After the epidemic,
10:17 I'm glad to say that Ithaca’s water became publicly controlled. So this is a really great, although pretty sad,
10:24 lesson in why critical services really should not be left entirely to private interests. In cities,
10:31 standardized sewage and waste disposal, clean drinking water, modern plumbing fixtures, these were becoming more and more common.
10:37 But rural farm homes, regardless of wealth, they were usually a different matter.
10:41 So clean drinking water wasn't guaranteed,
10:43 poor drainage and faulty plumbing often led to contaminated drinking water supplies.
10:49 Unhygienic practices like shared public drinking cups, lack of handwashing, and unsterilized food containers was widespread.
10:57 As you can imagine, the conditions were ripe for typhoid,
11:00 which was spread through contaminated water or food and drink products,
11:04 and also by flies that would pick up bacteria from open outhouses and animal waste around the farms, and carry that directly to people's food.
11:14 So that was the world Martha Van Rensselaer was living in when she stepped onto Cornell's campus in 1900. But who was she?
11:22 Well, Van Rensselaer was an educator through and through,
11:25 and you can see her background or much of it on the slide.
11:28 But the thing I want to draw your attention to was this. In 1894,
11:32 she was elected commissioner for Cattaraugus County,
11:37 the school commissioner for Cattaraugus County. So that position, which was a six-year term,
11:42 put her in direct contact with rural communities across western New York.
11:45 And so this gave her the chance to get to know rural women and their issues very well.
11:50 So by the time she connected with Cornell's Liberty Hyde Bailey in 1900, she already knew she wanted to serve these women.
11:59 Bailey, a professor and later the dean of the College of Agriculture,
12:02 he had already seen the success of the Farmers’ Reading Course. This was like the men's version,
12:06 and he noticed a similar need for rural women,
12:09 and he wanted to create a parallel course for farmers’ wives.
12:13 And so Van Rensselaer, she had come highly recommended by one of his colleagues.
12:17 The image on the right is a draft of the letter that Bailey sent to farmers’ wives,
12:21 which is included in an issue of the Farmer's Reading Course.
12:27 and he's kind of surprisingly frank about it. So listen to how Bailey frames this.
12:32 He writes: “of 100 widows with a family of children and a farm, we are sure a larger percentage will make a success in the single-handed struggle
12:40 than with the same number of widowers in the same condition.”
12:49 That's pretty frank,
12:50 but he's really acknowledging how capable and important farm women are.
12:58 we want you, each of you, to talk back…
13:03 called upon to tell us that we're wrong.”
13:13 but he reiterates that he wants women to write in and tell them what they're most interested in hearing.
13:20 So with that, let's jump into what types of information and advice were covered in the sanitation-focused bulletins throughout the Reading Course.
13:26 So having reviewed many, many bulletins,
13:33 I noticed that sanitation measures made their way into a ton of the publications.
13:37 So this timeline highlights the issues that contained some level of sanitation focus.
13:41 It's nowhere near the number of actual publications that they put out.
13:50 and they're primarily written by Van Rensselaer.
13:55 these are written by other faculty and guest authors that are part of the industries.
14:02 the second editions and the later revisions.
14:07 The blue kind of green color marks where sanitation was mentioned, but it wasn't really the main focus.
14:12 And then that blue to magenta gradient represents in-person courses.
14:16 And many of those did include sanitation content.
14:19 So you'll see this timeline pop up again and again between each set of bulletins.
14:27 So one of the things that struck me in the archives was the evidence of how actively Van Rensselaer sought input before writing bulletins.
14:35 And so this letter is just one example.
14:37 So shortly after the first issue was published, that was Saving Steps,
14:41 she reached out to the Federation of Women's Literary and Educational Organizations,
14:45 which was a network that she was connected with through her work in Western New York.
14:48 She's letting them know that home sanitation, the next bulletin, is in preparation, but more importantly,
14:56 she is asking them to discuss the topic in their clubs and to send their thoughts.
15:05 She specifies that this will be about rural problems.
15:13 She's designing this for her audience, along with her audience.
15:17 So once Home Sanitation was ready to publish, it was advertised.
15:21 This is actually a printer's proof of an ad included in the Farmers’ Reading Course.
15:30 The language is actually pretty telling and it's also charming.
15:34 It acknowledges the difficulty of sanitation in rural areas.
15:43 Then it pivots to practicality.
15:54 “this little pamphlet sets forth many simple ways to improve the comforts and healthfulness of the home.”
16:03 maybe even a little wink.
16:05 Home Sanitation went through three editions.
16:08 So Van Rensselaer revised it each time to reflect new scientific understanding.
16:14 April 1901, December 1901, and November 1904.
16:21 But before I walk you through the changes, it's worth understanding how this bulletin works.
16:26 This isn't a list of instructions. This is a story.
16:30 Van Rensselaer creates a fictional farm family.
16:34 and she walks the reader through unsanitary living conditions.
16:39 She includes consequences:
16:46 four of the children have died.
16:53 She's really tugging at their heartstrings.
16:58 But these losses were common.
17:06 Then it takes an upward turn.
17:14 They drill a new well, test water, improve ventilation.
17:21 The cleanliness is transformed.
17:29 She's incredibly respectful.
17:33 She avoids blaming readers’ lifestyles.
17:39 She knew readers might feel defensive.
17:43 And she met that with kindness.
17:47 So now I'm going to walk you through key changes between editions.
17:50 The tables track disease- and germ-related changes.
17:59 So as you can see, there were many.
18:01 I'll highlight a couple examples.
18:04 In April 1901, a contaminated brook outbreak is attributed to scarlet fever.
18:11 But scarlet fever is transmitted person-to-person.
18:15 By December 1901, she corrects it.
18:26 She switches to a proper waterborne disease.
18:40 The term miasma is replaced with malaria and mosquitoes.
18:51 Reflecting advances in vector-borne disease science.
18:58 A couple quick changes here.
19:01 Flies and manure appear in 1904.
19:08 Reflecting knowledge of insects as disease vectors.
19:14 She adds school water supply impacts.
19:24 Expanding to community-level responsibility.
19:32 She brings sanitation beyond the household.
19:46 She references the water closet.
19:49 Points to future bulletins.
20:07 So those were the Home Sanitation bulletins.
20:11 Now we're moving to Germ Life bulletins.
20:18 First published in December 1903.
20:22 Shortly after the Ithaca epidemic.
20:25 A second talk came in 1904.
20:29 These marked a major shift.
20:34 She drops narrative storytelling.
20:41 She explains bacteria, transmission, disinfection.
20:47 In 1904, she introduces the carrier state.
20:54 A sophisticated concept.
21:03 Asymptomatic transmission.
21:10 This predates widespread public knowledge.
21:14 Scarlet fever and measles are distinguished.
21:22 She separates bacteria from “virus.”
21:28 “Virus” meaning unknown infectious agent.
21:35 Recognition of different microorganisms.
21:57 Updates to pasteurization standards.
22:05 Focus on milk safety.
22:13 In 1903: vague immune explanations.
22:18 By 1904: detailed immunology.
22:25 Leucocytes, serum, infection pathways.
22:35 A major leap in scientific literacy.
22:41 By 1904, she has built a foundation.
22:49 Next bulletins push into practical application.
22:55 One major issue: impure milk.
23:04 Unsanitary and adulterated products.
23:12 Especially dangerous for children.
23:20 Addressed in “Dust as Related to Food.”
23:29 Contributions from multiple authors.
23:46 Each brings a different approach.
23:59 In 1909, she publishes “The Bacteriology of the Household.”
24:03 Consolidates and expands prior material.
24:19 Adds practical applications and tips.
24:37 Includes coughing etiquette.
24:41 Kissing risks.
24:46 Toilet care.
24:59 Advocates for handkerchief use.
25:20 So we've been moving quickly.
25:22 Much content omitted.
25:26 We've seen how content evolved.
25:31 Now turning to communication methods.
25:38 Returning to “Dust as Related to Food.”
25:44 Three communication approaches:
25:48 Elliott: metaphor and familiarity.
25:52 gardening and breadmaking.
25:56 Pearson: numerical comparisons.
26:00 experiments and visualization.
26:05 Van Rensselaer: storytelling.
26:15 Maria Elliott: household bacteriologist.
26:23 Trained under Ellen Swallow Richards.
26:30 Pioneer in sanitation science.
26:39 Taught women experimental methods.
26:44 Plate cultures at home.
26:52 Women doing their own research.
27:08 Van Rensselaer condensed material.
27:14 Her bulletin was ~20 pages.
27:25 Elliott’s was 150+ pages.
27:32 She uses a garden metaphor.
27:39 Demonstrates dust experiments.
27:45 Shows contamination patterns visually.
27:51 Demonstrates tool effectiveness.
28:07 Covers advanced microbiology concepts.
28:13 Wide range of topics.
28:31 Includes prevention methods.
28:43 Raymond Pearson: dairy expert.
28:52 Involved in dairy regulation.
29:03 Developed inspection scorecards.
29:10 Active in policy and industry.
29:17 Uses quantitative approach.
29:23 Establishes contamination baselines.
29:31 Tests contamination sources.
29:49 Demonstrates bacterial growth.
29:59 From thousands to millions.
30:08 Lets numbers drive understanding.
30:18 Also gives practical tips.
30:40 Van Rensselaer closes with storytelling.
30:46 Uses humor and relatable scenarios.
30:53 Expands sanitation beyond the home.
31:05 Describes real-life situations.
31:11 Example: hotel food contamination.
31:19 Demonstrates cross-contamination.
31:29 Lessons without technical terms.
31:46 Now shifting to classroom instruction.
31:56 Early courses in the College of Agriculture.
32:03 “Woman’s Work and Domestic Science.”
32:11 Later: “Home Economics.”
32:19 Covers sanitation, food, health.
32:28 Offered during academic term and winter.
32:37 Seasonal accessibility.
32:49 Winter course established 1906–1907.
32:55 Split into sub-courses.
33:01 Focus on science-based topics.
33:11 Hygiene and physiology.
33:18 Laundry chemistry and disinfection.
33:28 Household bacteriology lectures.
33:45 1907–1908: Home Economics becomes a department.
33:53 First independent courses.
34:00 Sanitation appears across curriculum.
34:16 Food preparation and adulteration.
34:22 Dairy bacteriology introduced.
34:27 Requires laboratory training.
34:40 Evidence of course materials.
34:47 Assignments from 1916 and 1920.
34:55 Earlier materials not found.
35:01 Course also called Household Bacteriology.
35:07 Student example: Mary Moore.
35:20 Includes pathogen tables.
35:30 Infection pathways and diagrams.
35:36 Final exams included.
35:45 Multi-part exams.
35:53 Health in the Home course.
36:01 Community health topics.
36:07 Air, food handling, sanitation.
36:14 Public health issues.
36:19 Rural-specific challenges.
36:26 University-level microbiology for Home Economics students.
36:35 Rooted in Van Rensselaer’s earlier work.
36:35 So just to close, what we've seen today
36:39 is a set of bulletins and programs.
36:46 A partnership between university and community.
36:49 Van Rensselaer respected rural women’s intelligence.
36:53 She explained the “why” behind the “what.”
36:57 She treated women as partners in learning.
37:03 She built scientific literacy for everyday decisions.
37:12 Thank you.