USDA Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics Records

Collection

Identifier: MS0334

Staff Only

Content Description

The USDA Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics Records contain a history of the bureau; organizational charts; photographs of employees, nutrition experiments, equipment, exhibits, and food; a scrapbook of the 25th anniversary of the bureau (1923-1948); publicity information including posters; and lab notebooks. There is also a reprint collection of 24,000 publications with a card index.

Dates

Creation: 1921-1972
Creation: Majority of material found within 1950-1970

Conditions Governing Access

Contact Special Collections for access.

Organizational History

In 1915, the Office of Home Economics was established within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) States Relations Service. Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace announced in 1922 his plans to expand the scope of the office under a woman's leadership. In 1923, the Bureau of Home Economics was established with Louise Stanley as its chief.

During the Great Depression, Stanley initiated studies of American diets and had researchers focus on areas of the nation which were most affected by drought and high unemployment. The study results provided a basis for determining food products needed for an adequate diet and for planning relief programs using nutritious surplus products.

For the National Nutrition Conference held in 1941, the Bureau of Home Economics supplied data showing that many families in the U.S. had been consuming inadequate diets. Following the recommendations of the conference, USDA launched a national campaign to improve American diets. In this campaign, the nutritive values of food established by the Bureau of Home Economics became an important consideration in developing goals for agricultural production during the war years.