The Porosity of Public and Private in Ellen Richards's Home Economics

Scientist and reformer Ellen Richards (1842-1911) worked during the early Progressive Era in the sciences. She was the first woman to graduate from and teach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Interested in chemistry, Richards practiced science prolifically, including mineralogy, hydrology, sanitary science, nutrition and home economics. Richards also worked tirelessly to bring scientific opportunities to women. For Richards, science – particularly chemistry – was the best tool for understanding life both in and outside of the home.

At a time when science was becoming institutionalized and departmentalized in academic and research institutions, Richards published pamphlets, self-help books and how-to manuals to educate women and encourage their professional and educational development outside of institutional boundaries. Her attention to scientific principles established home economics within politics and culture by instituting home economics classes in schools and universities. In her published writings where she argued for the importance of home economics in day schools and universities, Richards also emphasized the home as a perfect laboratory for daily scientific work. Ultimately, Richards’ work to create a space for women in science produced a complicated legacy that limited women’s scientific involvement in spaces outside of the home and home economics departments at universities. Richards’ work in home economics offers a glimpse into the culturally conceived boundary of public and private as what counted as “scientific” passed porously through public and private spaces. Sources include her manuscripts in the form of self-help books, how-to manuals, academic writings, club meeting minutes, and personal letters.