This year for the holidays I’m going down to my grandparents house, and it got me thinking about my grandmother’s college major, home economics. All I remember from my home economics class in 9th grade was that I learned how to make a pineapple upside-down cake. There was also some really weird lesson where we took tests to see what blood type we were, which still doesn’t make sense as to why it was in the curriculum. I’m not sure if they even have home economics classes now, but if they do, chances are high, they, too, have devolved from the time when my grandmother studied it.

So, I took a look online at the history of home economics, and came across several interesting databases and archives regarding women’s history. Some of them are databases of women’s history and others are based on purely home ec, but either way, they’re not only a great source of knowledge, but might also help stir up holiday conversation if you find yourself with your grandmother and unsure of a topic. Try asking her about what she studied at university, what she hoped to be at your age, or what her career aspirations were. You might not only be surprised, but you just might come away with more respect for home ec, and the lesson it’s passed on through the years.

Most of these are American, but that’s mainly because they were pretty easy to uncover. Have any from other countries? Let me know! Some of them you have to dig around for images, but they are all amazing resources!

*The Making of a Homemaker
*Home Economics to Human Ecology
*The Northern Great Plains: Women Pioneers
*American Women’s History: A Research Guide
*Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture
*The Schlesinger History of Women in America Collection
*Quilts as Visual History in 19th and 20th Century America
*The History of Household Technology with Constance Carter
*From Domesticity to Modernity: What was Home Economics?