Western Kentucky University was founded by an act of the 1906 Kentucky Legislature as Western Kentucky State Normal School in Bowling Green.  An agreement was quickly reached that the previously existing Southern Normal School, "with its student body and good will," would be incorporated as the new State Normal School.  The new institution remained on the grounds of the old Southern Normal School until moving to its present location --College Heights, the commanding site of the Potter College Hill--in 1911.  In the same year, the Western State Normal catalogue included an announcement of the new department of Domestic Economy.  

         Domestic Science, Domestic Art, and Domestic Economy were the various names
    applied to the new deparment.  At the time, there were only three buildings:  the old Potter
    College Building, the new Vanmeter Hall, which indluced administration offices and
    auditorium; and Cabell Hall, where Home Economics  had the second floor and music the
    first.

Cabell Hall, 1911

     The concept of the new department had been unanimously adopted by the Board of Regens of the Western Kentucky State Normal School on January 28, 1909.  The motion was that "Domestic Science be introduced into the course of study as soon as it can be properly taken care of."  A donation of $2,000 to the school facilitated the purchase of physical equipment connected with the new course of study.  The agreement noting the conditions of the donation was signed by the Board of Regents and the Executive Secretary of the Peabody Education Fund.

    Western's first president, Dr. H. H. Cherry, was instrumental in bringing Miss Iva Scott to Bowling Green in 1911 to launch the new department.  Letters from Dr. Cherry's files reveal his ingenuity in obtaining equipment needed to make the new "School of Domstic Science and D omestic Arts a leading feature of the institution."  Although he did not have the funds in hand, he confidently assured potential suppliers that "The General Assembly of Kentucky meets next January and there isn't a doubt about a splendid appropriation being made." (H.H. Cherry files, WKU Archives.)

    Domestic Economy was listed as a new department in the Summer 1911 State Normal Bulletin with the following explanation:

                   The term is not satisfactory but [is] used more often and is more generally understood to include full range of
                     the subject.  At present three lines of work will be offered: Elementary Cooking; Study of Foods; Model
                     Sewing.

    The following statement of the purpose of the department was set forth in Western Normal Letters (October, 1915):

                    Home Economy aims not only to prepare girls to teach problems of food, shelter, clothing and household
                     management in an elementary way, but also to increase ideals in home life and environment that the next
                     generations will be stronger physically and mentally thus being able to better meet problems of life.  Above
                     all we strive to make the course a working practical one--one that will make home comfortable, sanitary,
                     economical and beautiful.

                                                                                                                                         Sewing Class                                                                           Foods I in 1920s                                          
          Miss Iva Scott, the first head of the Department of Home Economics at Western, has been credited with much of that department's success.  Alice Kinslow Pace, a student and assistant instructor with Ms. Scott, noted at the Iva Scott Club Banquest in May 1957 that:

                The catalogues and publications listed the courses, they described the equipment, and enumerated various statistics, but as with all successful developments, the great determining factor in the early Home Economics Department at Western was very intangible.  It was something which could not be put on the printed page nor could it be measured in statistical data--the real determining factor in the early foundation of Home Economics at Western was the ability and personality of Iva Scott.

       Except for a brief period during her mother's illness in 1916 and a leave of absence from 1918 to 1921 to serve as Director of Propaganda in Food Conservation--an appointment made by Herbert  Hoover as Food Administrator for the United States--Ms. Scott headed the department from its inception until her untimely death in 1921.  Betsey Madison and Ola Johnson, respectively, filled the position in Miss Scotts' absence.

       The department head appointed in 1921 was Miss Annie Lee Davis, who served until 1924.  It was during this time that the four-year program leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics was developed.  The Normal School became Western Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College in 1922, and in 1924, the first graduating class included five Home Economics majors.  Also, the first home management house was opened during that year.

       In the fall of 1924, Miss Charlotte "Lotta" Day became head of the department, and the staff had increased to four.  A new building, which housed the department, was constructed in 1926, and this facility included well-equipped clothing and foods laboratores, a modern equipment laboratory, an art laboratory, home kitchen, dining room, fitting room, class rooms, reception room and offices.

       In 1930 "Normal School" was dropped from its name, and Western became Western Kentucky State Teachers College.  By 1931 the department had six instructors and a new home management house on Ogden campus had opened.  In 1937 the word "Teachers" was dropped from the name and the name became Western Kentucky State College.  The rapid growth of the department that characterized the 1930s led to the establishment of off-campus teaching centers to accommodate student teachers.  The first of these was located in 1939 in the high school at Auburn, Kentucky, with students commuting by public bus.

       In the fall of 1956, Miss Marie Adams became the head of the department of Home Economics.  Miss Adams was one of the five Home Economics graduates in 1924--the year of the first four-year graduating class.  The department grew steaadily during the 1950s and 1960s necessitating the opening of a new and large home management house and remodeling of  the building housing the department.  The Beta Delta Chapter of Phi Upsilon Omicron National Home Economics Honor Society was installed in 1966--the same year that Western became a university. 


       The department has occupied the new Home Economics facility, the E. H. Canon wing of the Academic Complex since January, 1969.  New majors had been   added by that time, including Dietetics and Institution Administration, as well as in Interior Design and Textiles and Clothing.  Dr. Dorothy Dunn (1967-1968)   followed Miss Adams as head of the department, and Dr. William Hourigan served as interim head the next year.  Dr. William A.  Floyd then headed the department from 1969 until 1991, holding the position longer than any previous head.    
                                                                                                                                                              Dr. Wm. A. Floyd
                                                                                                                                                                                        
       Dr. Carl Hall became head of the department in July, 1991.  During his tenure, the name of the department was changed to the Department of Consumer and Family Sciences, following the nationwide trend to update the image of Home Economics to include all disciplines encompassed by the field.  The department went through a major curriculum update in 1993.  At that time the department listed the following majors: Dietetics; Home Economics Education; Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management; Interior Design; and, Textiles and Apparel Merchandising.  A new department newsletter, "Linkages" was published for the first time in Summer, 1993, with Dr. Virginia Atkins as it's editor.  WKU housed one of the last existing home managment houses in the nation until 1994. This facility was located on the ground floor in Bates-Runner Hall in the area that currently houses The Bate Shop.  There were 13 full-time faculty in the department in the Spring of 1995.

        Students in the department have been honored with scholarships and awards throughout the department's history.  The Beta Delta Chapter of Phi Upsilon Omicron won the national professional project competition four times.  Each time, they have won the first prize two years in a row in 1998 and 1999 AND 2005 and 2006.   CFS students have  been named Scholar of the College eight times since May, 2002.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                           1998 Phi U winners
                                                                                                                                                                 
     Dr. Hall retired from WKU in June, 1997.   Dr. Louella Fong served two years as Interim Department Head and was named Department Head in 1999.  The CFS computer lab became the College of Health and Human Services Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) in Fall, 2004.

     The Early Childhood Center (ECC) is a part of the Clinical Education Complex and a full-time Director was hired in 2005. The ECC serves developmentally delayed preschool children as well as non-developmentally delayed children in a play group setting, which the children have dubbed, "Big Red School." 

    By the Fall of 2006, the CFS department had 18 full-time faculty and three Baccalaureate degree programs.  These programs are: Family and Consumer Sciences, which includes concentrations in Child Studies, Family and Consumer Sciences Education, and Family Studies; Hospitality Management and Dietetics, which includes concentrations in: Food, Nutrition and Wellness; Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management; and Nutrition and Dietetics; and, Design, Merchandising and Textiles, which includes concentrations in Interior Design and Textiles and Apparel Merchandising.  There are two Associate degree programs available: Hospitality Management and Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education.

    Dr. Fong retired in June, 2007, and Dr. Doris Sikora was named as Interim Department Head.  New major concentrations, minors, and a certificate offering were added in 2007-2008, which include: Child Life Specialist major concentration, Child Studies minor, Family Home Visiting certificate, and Nutrition minor.





                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                            Dr. Doris Sikora