Home Economics at New York State College of Agriculture 1453 



very narrow. The result of it is that a man expends much less energy in 

 providing apparel than a woman does. I presume that we should never 

 standardize women's clothing so narrowly as men's clothing is standard- 

 ized, but there is certainly need of much effort in that direction. I think 

 it is the place of college women to spread the idea that first-rate artists 

 in clothing should be employed in women's work and to overcome the 

 notion that radical styles may be set arbitrarily. Very much human 

 energy is wasted in trying merely to readapt oneself to changing fashions, 

 which are largely set by commercial firms that they may obtain financial 

 advantage therefrom. This handicap is well recognized by educated 

 women. The difficulty is that the trades in women's apparel have not yet 

 caught up with our best judgment, and the women of the present day are 

 living, therefore, in a trying position. 



3. I think that educated women who are to carry much responsibility 

 of the world's work must overcome some of the common notion that they 

 are of right to be " entertained." A person who is resourceful entertains 

 himself or herself. Of course I do not mean by this that one is to withdraw 

 from associations with one's fellows, or in any way to isolate oneself; 

 it is possible to be resourceful without being separate. 



4. The means whereby woman is to broaden her influence is, first to 

 broaden her own and undisputed sphere and not merely to adopt man's 

 sphere. In the nature of things, there is division of labor between men 

 and women. If there are certain duties that inhere in man's estate, there 

 are certain other duties that inhere in woman's estate. I have no desire 

 to say what a woman's work shall be; but it is very apparent that she 

 must be master of her own problem before she can solve another's problem. 



The Department of Home Economics 

 If the customary sxibjects in the College of Agriculture are organized 

 and designed to train a man for efficiency in country life and to develop 

 his outlook, so also is the Department of Home Economics in this College 

 to train a woman for efficiency and to develop her outlook to life. A 

 department of home economics, therefore, is not a concession to public 

 opinion, or even alone to the special needs of woman's education. It is a 

 necessity as a means of developing society. 



Home economics is not one department, in the sense in which dairying 

 or entomology or soils is a department. It is not a single specialty. It 

 stands for the whole development of woman's work and place. Many 

 technical or educational departments will grow out of it as time goes on. 

 Of course, I would not limit the entrance of women into any courses 

 in the College of Agriculture; on the contrary, I want all courses open to 

 them freely and on equal terms with men : but the subjects that are arranged 



