Historical Note
The College of Home Economics at Oregon State University was
established in 1889 as the Department of Household Economy and Hygiene and
was the first such program west of the Rocky Mountains. The College merged
with the College of Health and Human Performance in 2002 to form the
College of Health and Human Sciences.
Home management houses (or practice houses) were established in the
School of Home Economics in 1916 and a six-week residency in one of the
houses was required of all home economics students. Beginning in 1926,
infants and toddlers lived in the home management houses and were cared
for by the students and resident advisor. More than 50 children lived in
the home management houses for several weeks to a year from 1926 through
the 1940s.
Content Description
The College of Home Economics Motion Picture Films and Videotapes
document home economics instruction and extension activities at Oregon
State University. The films include footage of the home management houses,
including Withycombe House, and the nursery school from the 1950s and a
color film on mattress construction. A film on home economics careers is a
kinescope recording of a KOAC-TV broadcast.
The bulk of the collection consists of videotapes, primarily of
lectures and presentations by faculty and off-campus speakers for home
economics education classes. Speakers include Joanne Miksis, Debbie
Zeller, Doris Brannan, Kay Mehas, Gini Teemer, and Clara Pratt. Topics
include teen/parent programs, food science and technology, fashion
merchandising, and teaching about interpersonal relationships in high
school.
The videotapes also include a recording of Dean Betty Hawthorne and one
pertains to home economics in the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools. Two
videotapes in the
When Dependence Increases series by
Extension Gerontology are included. Promotional productions for a proposed
Family Study Center and the Mini-College extension program are part of the
collection. A recording of a rehearsed statement by a crowd in front of
the Memorial Union declaring the 100th anniversary of the College of Home
Economics in May 1988 was made for the Good Morning America television
program. The videotape was provided by the KEZI television station in
Eugene.
All of the videotapes are VHS format. Three of the films are 16 mm; 4
reels are super 8 mm. Most of the films are b/w.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access Collection is open for research.
Restrictions on Use Copyright, reproduction, and use restrictions may apply to the
videotape made by KEZI television for Good Morning America.
Preferred Citation College of Home Economics Motion Picture Films and Videotapes (FV P
044), Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.