Hazel Katherine Stiebeling Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS0267

Staff Only

Content Description

The Hazel Katherine Stiebeling Papers span the period from 1919 to 1990. The collection includes articles pertaining to nutrition research, Dr. Stiebeling’s work and career highlights, along with publications by some of her colleagues in the nutrition field. The collection also includes photographs of agricultural research staff, nutrition professionals, and Dr. Hazel Stiebeling throughout her life and career. The Hazel Katherine Stiebeling Papers span the period from 1919 to 1990. The collection includes articles pertaining to nutrition research, Dr. Stiebeling’s work and career highlights, along with publications by some of her colleagues in the nutrition field. The collection also includes photographs of agricultural research staff, nutrition professionals, and Dr. Hazel Stiebeling throughout her life and career.

Dates

Creation: 1919-1990

Conditions Governing Access

Contact Special Collections for access.

Biographical Sketch

Hazel Katherine Stiebeling (1896-1989) became the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Section of Food Economics in 1930. During her career, she pioneered the application of sample survey methods to national nutrition problems in order to understand the food habits of population groups. In the 1930s, she helped devise an emergency plan for feeding the victims of severe droughts in the southern United States. Her research and interest in diet deficiencies in the United States led to the development of school lunch programs, as well as programs promoting the increased consumption of milk, fresh fruits, and green vegetables.

Dr. Stiebeling became chief of USDA's Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics in 1944. She served as director of Home Economics Research from 1953 to 1957, then as director of the Institute of Home Economics from 1957 to 1961. She was the deputy administrator of the Agricultural Research Service from 1961 until her retirement in 1963.

The recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees throughout her career, Dr. Stiebeling earned bachelor's (1919) and master's degrees (1924) in nutrition from Columbia University Teachers' College. She completed her Ph.D. in chemistry at Columbia in 1928.