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hHOMEMAKERS 



Mrt. title Mies 



bana since 1934 



Mrs. Elsie Mies 

 Former Home Bureau 

 President Dies 



ONE of the great leaders in 

 women's farm organizations and 

 Home Bureau groups, Mrs. Elsie 

 Wheaton Mies, died Feb. 22 in 

 Carle hospital, Urbana, after a 

 lingering illness. Funeral services were 

 held from the Uni- 

 versity Christian 

 Church, Cham- 

 paign, and burial 

 was in Pontiac. 

 President Charles 

 B. Shuman of the 

 Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association 

 represented the 

 lAA at the services. 

 Mrs. Mies, who 

 had lived in Ur- 

 was national presi- 

 dent of the Associated Women of the 

 American Farm Bureau Federation 

 from 1940 to 1944, seryed as vice- 

 president for three years prior to that, 

 and as president of the Illinois Home 

 Bureau Federation from 1930 to 1933. 

 She had also served as president of the 

 Livingston County Home Bureau. 



Illinois farm women will long re- 

 member Mrs. Mies' many talks before 

 county and state meetings. She had a 

 straight forward and direct method of 

 speaking that was spiced with a fine 

 sense of humor. She had a great ca- 

 pacity for understanding and used her 

 early training as a teacher in effective 

 leadership to promote the welfare of 

 farm men and women. 



Mrs. Mies was born Nov. i4, 1880 in 

 Hinckley, DeKalb county, the daughter 

 of Amelia Holdenhouse and George L. 

 Wheaton. On Aug. 28, 1909, she was 

 married to Henry Joseph Mies in Chi- 

 cago. Mr. Mies, one of the early found- 

 ers of the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion, was killed in an auto accident on 

 Oct. 19, 1932, and Mrs. Mies was seri- 

 ously injured. 



Mrs. Mies a descendant of the found- 

 ers of Wheaton college, was a school 

 teacher prior to her marriage. 



The Illinois women's leader made a 

 great contribution to the development 

 of farm organizations — both in the 

 state and nation. It was Mrs. Mies 

 who helped develop the constitution 



and by-laws of the Associated Women. 

 She traveled extensively in this country 

 and in Canada in connection with her 

 work as an officer of the Associated 

 Women and Illinois Home Bureau 

 Federation. 



She will long be remembered by 

 those who had the privilege of work- 

 ing with her as a kind and thoughtful 

 individual. She was without pretense 

 or afiFectation and while her approach 

 to problems was always of a practical 

 nature, she retained the gift of inspira- 

 tion. In her death, farm men and 

 women have lost a great leader. 



Mrs. Mies leaves three daughters: 

 Mrs. Helen Schilf, Fulton county, who 

 has served as publicity chairman of the 

 Illinois Home Bureau Federation; Mrs. 

 Henrietta Babb, Macon county ; Mrs. 

 Jeannette Bixler, Richland, Wash. ; one 

 son, Wheaton Mies, Boston, Mass., and 

 five grandchildren. 



Handicraft projects are causing a great 

 deal of interest among women of Ste- 

 phenson County Home Bureau. Some 

 of the projects include glove making, 

 metal etching, chair caning and rug mak- 

 ing. 



4-H Girls Mark 

 Record Year in '48 

 On Membership 



WITH an all-time-high membership 

 of 25,503 in 1948, Illinois 4-H girls 

 had a record-breaking year. 



It was a mighty busy year for the 4-H 

 girls too. More than 50 per cent of 

 them were enrolled in clothing projects. 

 And they made hundreds of good-look- 

 ing dresses and other garments. 



Food project work attracted many of 

 the 4-H'ers. More than a third were 

 enrolled in this phase of the program. 

 They learned cooking methocJs and nu- 

 trition through studying such subjects 

 as "Use of Fruits and Vegetables," 

 'Cookies," "Dairy Foods," and "Out- 

 door Meals." 



More than a thousand girls tried their 

 hands at interior decorating by carrying 

 the room improvement project. 



The age range for 4-H girls is from 10 

 to 21 years. Here in Illinois most of 

 them are from 10 to 16 years old. The 

 largest group is the 12-year-olds with 

 4,678 members. 



COPY CAT HOUSECOATS 



Imagine eating your breakfatt cereal in a 

 bright ho«*eeoat as prattf as ihnte match- 

 ing styles, you tan make junior and senior 

 editlont of flie tame pattern In gayly 

 printed cotton, for free Inttructlont tend 

 a leU-addretted stamped envelope to 

 Women's tdltor, Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation Record, 43 iatt Ohio Street, Chicago 

 11, Illinois. 



RAIN SUIT 



Little Red Riding Hood '49 visits Orandme 

 rain or thine. In stormy weather, her cape 

 of red printed plattic film keep* Iter dry 

 OS a powder puff, learn how to make this 

 rainproof tult by tending a telf addretted 

 stamped envelope to Women's tdltor, - Il- 

 linois Agricultural Association Record, 43 

 fast Ohio Street, Chicago II, Illinois. 



APRIL 1949 



33 



