Until recently, historians tended to dismiss home economics as little more than a conspiracy to keep women in the kitchen. This landmark volume initiates collaboration among home economists, family and consumer science professionals, and women's historians. What knits the essays together is a willingness to revisit the subject of home economics with neither indictment nor apology. It includes significant new work that places home economics in the twentieth century within the context of the development of women's professions.

Rethinking Home Economics documents the evolution...