The North Carolina State University Department of Family and Consumer Sciences Records contain reports, questionnaires, correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, press releases, bound volumes, manuscripts, awards, tributes, newsletters, minutes, pamphlets, and labels. A large percentage of the records come from the office of the director.
The records pertain to the activities of the Home Demonstration and Home Economics departments, which are currently known as the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, part of the Cooperative Extension Service in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The records date from 1903, prior to the organization's inception, through 2010s, although the bulk of the files are from 1930 - 1970.
The Family and Consumer Sciences department of North Carolina State University's Cooperative Extension Service was originally known as Home Demonstration, and it evolved out of the efforts of Ira Obed Schaub, Jane S. McKimmon, and others, to develop farm boys' and girls' clubs. The girls' clubs worked under the direction of McKimmon and other agents to sell home-canned tomatoes, which expanded into other canning activities. These clubs eventually became known as 4-H clubs.
In 1909, McKimmon became an instructor at farmer's institutes, where she instructed the girls, along with their parents, on canning as well as what she called other "housewifely arts." By October of 1911, the General Education Board (originally established by the Rockefeller Foundation) had made a sum of $300 available to employ a woman home demonstration agent in each of the southern states. Schaub, the North Carolina State College extention boys' and girls' club agent at the time, hired McKimmon to take this position, which began on November 1, 1911. McKimmon organized the service so that fourteen pioneer counties each hired, for a small salary, a county home demonstration agent who could reach families on a more personal level.
Initially, these agents were hired only for two months during the canning and growing seasons. They soon realized, however, that the job would require much more time, due to the effort needed for organization, gardening, and marketing. After the first year, agents were hired to work for a full year.
At this point, the home demonstration work was still intended mainly for farm girls. However, by the summer of 1912, many mothers began attending canning schools with their daughters and became interested in learning other things as well. By 1913, women's clubs had been organized in each county where there was a home demonstration agent stationed, and by the end of 1914 there were thirty-two counties organized with an enrollment of 1500 members. As the organization kept growing, McKimmon and others made the decision in 1916 to split the women's home demonstration clubs and the girls' 4-H clubs. The first six African American home demonstration agents were appointed in 1922 to work exclusively with African American farm women.
Most of the home demonstration projects in the first few years directly related to commodities that could be sold to increase the family income. Women and girls sold canned goods, eggs, poultry, ham, turnip greens, and fresh vegetables, and by doing so were able to earn a small amount of money. Some of them used that money for labor-saving devices for the home. One popular device was the fireless cooker, which allowed farm women to cook poultry while they were doing other necessary work on the farm. The home demonstration clubs eventually branched out from food-related instruction to include things such as cleaning, increased storage space, and sewing clothing and hats.
By the 1930s, home demonstration clubs had been firmly established all over North Carolina, and during the Great Depression agents concentrated on relief gardens, curb markets, food conservation, and clothing construction. In 1933, 140,000 relief gardens were reported, and about thirty curb markets were accounting for $300,000 annually in sales. By the end of World War II, the home demonstration club program had 55,185 total members in 2175 clubs. Of these, 12,952 members were African American in 587 home demonstration clubs. The program was labeled the most strongly organized educational group in North Carolina by the 1945 Extension Service annual report. That same year, Home Demonstration established the family life relations section. By 1950, home demonstration clubs began health and community improvement drives, and agents were helping members with financial planning and preparation of wills.
The 1960s saw the newly named home economics program, subsidized by the federal government, becoming concerned specifically with the problems of low-income families. Home economists established centers in Mecklenburg, Forsyth, Robeson, Scotland, and Richmond counties. The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), which was designed to improve the nutrition of low-income North Carolina families, was established in February 1969. By the late 1970s, special programs were being enacted for the elderly, concerning nutrition and health, consumer education, income management, energy conservation, crime prevention, and intergenerational education. In 1978, home economics became a department at North Carolina State University.
In 1995, the name changed again to the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS). The faculty has worked in fields such as nutrition, human development, parenting, aging, housing, health, and family resource management. The department has also worked cooperatively with FCS field agents, also known as county field faculty. Field and department faculty have worked together to develop and implement educational programs for families. In 2006 the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H Youth Development were combined into one unit under the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.
The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences Records contain files relating to the activities of the department from 1903 through 1981. Although the records contain files concerning the department before its inception (relating to "father" of extension Seaman Knapp) through the 2010s, the bulk of the files are from 1930 - 1987. Although the title of the records is based on the organization's current name, they therefore include files only from when the organization was called "Home Demonstration" and "Home Economics." The records are arranged into five series. The General Records contain the bulk of the files. This series is followed by Staff Records, Farm and Home Week, National Home Demonstration Week, and Oversized Records. Records have been maintained in the order in which they were found in almost all cases. Folder names have generally been left as they were, although some have been altered for improved clarity. Further, records previously labeled "Historical Information" have been combined with General Records because their contents did not differ significantly. More detailed scope and content notes may be found below at the beginning of each of the separate series.
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.
[Identification of item], North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences Records, UA 102.018, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Transferred from the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences offices.
Processed by Stephanie Horowitz, 2005
Encoded by Stephanie Horowitz, 2005
Finding aid updated by Gevorg Vardanyan, 2023
The collection is organized into six principal series:
The General Records series contains the bulk of the records. It contains files pertaining to numerous activities of the Home Demonstration and Home Economics departments. Subjects include the elderly, health and sanitation, food preparation and nutrition, literacy, music programming, recreation, international relations, and poverty. The series also includes a number of forms of publicity (including contests, newspaper clippings, and pamphlets), reports from studies and conferences, and internal and external correspondence. There is a significant amount of information relating to the Master Farm Homemakers' Guild. Files have been arranged alphabetically.
15.25 records storage boxes
After review, access to the digital copies may be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room upon request.
The Special Collections Research Center, NC State University Libraries, has digital copies of some or all of these materials.
Access to physical material and digital files not available online may be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room after staff review.
Some materials may not have been digitized or made available online.
This series contains correspondence, reports, brochures, and newspaper clippings pertaining to specific employees of Home Demonstration and Home Economics. It also includes records relating to College employees, such as John Caldwell, who did not work specifically for Home Demonstration but had various interactions with the organization. People in this category other than John Caldwell include W.L. Carpenter, D.W. Colvard, William C. Friday, John W. Goodman, C. Brice Ratchford, Ira Obed Schaub, W. Kerr Scott, R.W. Shoffner, Fred Sloan, and David S. Weaver. Of particular interest are those files relating to Ruth Current, who was the state home demonstration leader between 1957 and 1961. Files have been arranged alphabetically.
2 records storage boxes
The Farm and Home Week series contains newspaper clippings, reports, brochures, and correspondence from Farm and Home Week at North Carolina State College between the years listed above. Files have been arranged chronologically.
6 folders
Access to physical material and digital files not available online may be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room after staff review.
Some materials may not have been digitized or made available online.
After review, access to the digital copies may be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room upon request.
The Special Collections Research Center, NC State University Libraries, has digital copies of some or all of these materials.
This series contains those records pertaining to National Home Demonstration Week in North Carolina. These records had initially been titled "Scrapbooks," but the contents in general are bound volumes containing questionnaires, newspaper clippings, publicity, and reports on National Home Demonstration Weeks. Where the files contain more specific information, this has been noted in the folder title. For instance, several years had been divided by the records' creator into "white" and "Negro". Files have been arranged chronologically.
6.25 records storage boxes
Access to physical material and digital files not available online may be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room after staff review.
Some materials may not have been digitized or made available online.
This series contains files that have been separated from their original locations due to their size.
1 oversized storage box
This series is comprised of web sites of North Carolina State University’s Family and Consumer Sciences, captured by the NC State University Libraries since July 2016 using the Internet Archive’s Archive-It web archiving service, with prior captures by the Internet Archive dating back to September 2014, which may be less complete and was performed at undetermined intervals.
This is the official website of the Department of Youth, Family, and Community Sciences at NC State University. The NC State University Libraries has scheduled this website to be captured quarterly since July 2016. Also included here are prior captures by the Internet Archive dating back to September 2014.
This collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to digital files may require additional advanced notice.
For more information contact us via mail, phone, or our web form.
Mailing address:
Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111
Phone: (919) 515-2273
[Identification of item], North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences Records, UA 102.018, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.