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. Louella Fong retired in June, 2007. Dr.
Doris Sikora served as Interim Department Head until January, 2008,
when she was named Department Head for CFS.
Dr. Doris Sikora
