Home Ec Homes

When Margaret Snell held the first classes in Household Economy and Hygiene in 1889, she did so on the third floor of Benton Hall.  After Mrs. Avery came on as the second staff member, they used two rooms in Alpha Hall, the girls' hall, which was managed by Professor Snell.  When Waldo Hall was opened in 1907, the Department of Household Science, or Domestic Science, classes were moved into its basement.[1]  "Facilities for this work included two large cooking laboratories, a lecture room, a scientific laboratory, a room for instruction in home nursing, a dining room, and a large laundry."[2] In 1909, Domestic Art was housed in the Agronomy wing of the Agriculture Building.  The first unit (now the east wing) of the Home Economics Building was finished in 1914.  According to 50 Years of Home Economics at Oregon State College (1940), during the 1917-1918 school year, "Home economics classes overflowed into the Dairy Building [now Gilkey Hall], Agriculture Hall, and the Library [now Kidder Hall].  Institutional Management was carried on in a rented apartment off the campus."[3]

The first "Practice House," Withycombe House, was opened in 1916.  The second portion of the Home Economics Building was completed and equipped in 1920.  The first nursery school was established in 1926, the Covell House, and was used for a nursery and a second home management house.  The Kent House became the third home management house in 1931.  Another home management house, the Dolan House, with laboratories, was opened in 1937 but eliminated in 1942.  The Orchard Street Nursery School was designed and constructed in 1939 and used "for education and research in child development and nursery school teaching."  A second nursery school laboratory, Park Terrace, was opened in 1945.[4]  

The third, and final, wing of the Home Economics Building was finished in 1952 (dedicated in 1953).  This is the west wing of the present Milam Hall.[5]

[1] RG141, College of Home Economics and Education Records, 1913-2000. "HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS OF OREGON STATE COLLEGE by MRS. AVA MILAM CLARK" for the Centennial June 1957.

[2] 50 Years of Home Economics at Oregon State College (1940)

[3] Ibid.

[4] RG141, College of Home Economics and Education Records, 1913-2000. "HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS OF OREGON STATE COLLEGE by MRS. AVA MILAM CLARK" for the Centennial June 1957.

[5] Ibid.