New Jersey Home Economics Association records

Dates

1925 - 1986
Majority of material found within 1963 - 1977

Scope and Contents

The 7 cubic feet of documents comprising the records of the New Jersey Home Economics Association (NJHEA) span the period 1926 to 1986, although the bulk of the collection dates from 1963 to 1977. An educational and scientific organization founded in 1926, the NJHEA's purpose is to improve the quality and standards of individual and family life through education, research, cooperative programs, and public information. Members of the NJHEA are also members of the American Home Economics Association.

The NJHEA collection has broad significance to researchers investigating the home economics, domestic science and consumer movements, the history of women and the family. The collection reflects changing social and economic trends in America between 1926 and 1986. Used in combination with the national records of the AHEA, and the Journal of Home Economics (published by the AHEA), researchers can document, for example, the nature of the relationship between a parent organization and a state chapter. Researchers might find it useful to consult the records of the Association of New Jersey Extention Home Economists as well as the SINCLAIR New Jersey Collection which includes a complete run of NJHEA Newsletters.

Included in the NJHEA collection are seven series: ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORIES, 1888-1963, 1963-1973; BY-LAWS, 1946-1984; ANNUAL REPORTS, 1948-1968, 1970-1971, 1974-1976, 1979-1980; NEWSLETTERS, 1928-1986 LEADERSHIP ROSTERS, 1925-1956, 1960-1978, 1982-1983; MEMBERSHIP LISTS, 1926-1978, 1984-1985, and GENERAL FILE, 1926, 1986, including Association minutes, reports and handbooks, programs of work, newsletters, committee and board minutes, agendas, brochures, convention memorabilia, journals, photographs, posters and Association proclamations. Districts were required to keep the state association informed of their activities, As a result, the records of the NJHEA includes the minutes, agendas, membership, leadership, newsletters, program brochures and correspondence from local districts. Nonetheless, these might not represent the full range of the activities of districts.

Received in separate accessions, the records reflect different periods of the Association's history. Material from 1926 to roughly 1963 documents the origins of the Association and its development while the later material (from 1963 to 1986) was received in a second and more recent accession. Although the records arrived on separate occasions, the organization of the files throughout the Association's history has been relatively consistent, Therefore, the records generated under each state president form a single record group (General File) and are arranged in their original order, Other files, however, were re-organized into 8 series according to subjects found throughout the collection. The minutes series consists of folders drawn from the presidents' files and therefore includes memos and notes relevant to board meetings. These are primarily arranged chronologically and not by committee. Miscellaneous and unfiled documents from the first acquisition were refoldered and refiled in accordance with the overall organization of the collection and are so identified.

It was not until 1960 that the NJHEA decided to preserve the records of the Association to insure their safety following the suggestion of the AHEA, As such, the early records of the Association's history (1926-1946) were collected from a variety of sources, including personal collections as well as AHEA headquarters, according to Florence Van Norden, researcher for their 1963 organizational history. Therefore, the precise origins of these early records remains unclear, The bulk of the NJHEA collection consists of files generated by state presidents between 1962 and 1986.

Extent

7 Cubic Feet (6 boxes and 1 carton)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Biographical / Historical

Chronology

1925: Ada Bessie Swann organizes meeting to found the NJHEA which is attended by 700 home economists and other women from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.

1926: AHEA grants affiliation to the New Jersey association with 134 paid members; North Jersey Section formed and officers elected. Meetings alternate between East Orange and Montclair high schools. Laura C. Fawcett presided at first Spring meeting.

1927: Membership totaled 178,

1928: Spring meeting of NJHEA held in East Orange; South Jersey Section of NJHEA formed and officers elected,

1930: Home Economists employed by utility and food companies, manufacturers of appliances and other businesses meet frequently although not formally organized into the Home Economists in Business professional section. Membership of 244 included two student clubs.

1931: New Jersey representatives attended the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection. Membership in 18 student clubs totaled 389 including 50 in boys' clubs.

1933: Among Association activities were a Boys' tailoring class organized in Collingswood Junior High School. In cooking classes in Montclair, students learned how to make 15-minute "businesswomen' s meals" while mothers were taught how to make children's clothing in the household arts department in West Orange. Meanwhile, the home economics class in Rahway conducted a study of the purchasing power of a nickel and designed menus for low-income families.

1934: Student Club membership in NJHEA dropped to 4 clubs and 142 members.

1939: The Association meeting at East Orange high school was attended by 250 members.

1940: College degree became membership requirement.

1941: The fall luncheon fo Atlantic City is attended by 200 home economists who raise over $1 ,500 for mobile kitchen in Britain.

1943: War work activities included sewing for soldiers stationed in nearby hotels, preparing food and acting as hostesses for U.S.O. and conducting nutrition, canteen and clothing conservation courses. Membership totaled 189 active members.

1945: NJHEA raised funds for two mobile kitchens for Britain.

1948: Selling note paper decorated with map of New Jersey raised $625 for the NJHEA headquarters fund. Laura Fawcett, NJHEA 's first president, retired as East Orange home economics supervisor after 37 years.

1950: Essex County Section organized.

1952: Sale of UN cookbooks nets $210 for headquarters fund. National convention of AHEA held in Atlantic City.

1953: Newsletter mailing list includes 378 members.

1954: Rutgers University offered first graduate course in home economics--a combined project of the University School of Education and Home Economics Department of New Jersey College for Women, now Douglass College.

1955: Association publishes first printed newsletter financed by advertising. Union County and Bergen-Passaic sections organized.

1956: Monmouth County and Bergen-Passaic sections formed.

1961: Burlington-Camden HEIB (Home Economics in Business) formed.

1962: Middlesex County district formed

1963: Essex County HEIB formed.

1964: NJHEA and the New Jersey Dietetics Association hold first joint meeting. HEIH (Home Economists in Homemaking) groups are established in Bergen-Passaic, Burlington-Camden, Metropolitan Newark and Middlesex.

1965: AHEA fifty-sixth Annual Meeting held in Atlantic City. MercerHuntingdon district organized.

1966: 40th Anniversary of NJHEA. Northwest Jersey section formed. NJHEA became charter donor to AHEA Foundation.

1967: Joint Committee of NJHEA-NJDA (Dietetic Association) distributed "Revised Career Kit for Guidance Counselors in New Jersey."

1969: AHEA Anniversary Building Fund launched in New Jersey

1970: First directory of NJHEA printed.

1972: Membership votes to change State President's term of office from two years to one. Monmouth-Ocean district organized. Former Union County section became part of Union-Somerset district. With Essex-Hudson district organized, New Jersey declared its districting completed in line with AHEA recommendations. Constitution and By-Laws revised.

1973: New Jersey is the hostess state for 64th Annual AHEA Meeting in Atlantic City.

1974: NJHEA membership at 1,500. Nevertheless, "Each One Win One" membership drive aimed to recruit the 2,500 additional home economists in the state who qualify for membership.

1975: Audrey C. Burkhart assumes leadership of NJHEA. State association leadership organizes to oppose state-wide budget cuts affecting home economists and services. Kaye Boyer appointed first executive director of NJHEA.

1976: Family theme of NJHEA Spring Meeting; NJHEA amends certificate ofincorporation.

1977: New state logo, designed by Mrs. E. Renee Heiss, unveiled at the fall meeting. Membership reached 1,750

1978: NJHEA co-sponsors Quality of Life Conference focusing on ways to improve the quality of life for children. Dianne S. Lennon from southern counties is elected president.

1980: Board of trustees votes to make "Dual Role Family" the state association ' s annual theme. State representatives participate in White House Conference on Families.

1981: The play " Sirens, " a bout women's consciousness raising, is presented at the NJHEA fall meeting by the Woman's College Theatre. The 72nd annual meeting of the AHEA is hosted in Atlantic City.

1982: Fashion historian Elizabeth Brown elected president of NJHEA. Kaye K. Boyer completes 8th year as executive director of NJHEA. Two-year plan of work of NJHEA focuses on technology and the family.

1983: Geographic sections plan meeting around annual theme. Sister Anita Richard receives Home Economist of the Year certificate.

1984: NJHEA newsletter changes format. Four nationally prominent NJHEA members honored at the Fall Dinner Meeting. Professional Development committee of the NJHEA sponsors 4 town meetings in cooperation with geographical districts throughout the state.

1985: Annual Spring Meeting convenes in Jamesburg, NJ. Active recruitment of student members at New Jersey College. NJHEA spearheads fundraising activities.

1986: NJHEA creates executive board position for membership.

Biographical / Historical

Administrative History

"It is whispered that there will be music" at the first Annual Spring Meeting of the New Jersey State Home Economics Association, wrote Laura C. Fawcett with great enthusiasm to members of the fledgling organization in 1926. By early June, Fawcett, three other elected officers and 134 paid members applied for affiliation to the AHEA. The parent organization was undoubtedly pleased. Since 1921 the American Home Economics Association (AHEA) had urged state members to organize but professional women in New Jersey continued to associate with delegations in New York and Philadelphia despite the fact that 46 other states had already affiliated. Urging state organization, however, Ada Bessie Swann called a meeting attended by 700 home economists and other women from New Jersey and neighboring states to organize a New Jersey chapter in 1925. The following year, Fawcett invited home economists in New Jersey to meet on the "wide lawns with beautiful old trees" of the New Jersey College for Women (later renamed Douglass College).

Though the original constitution is not in the NJHEA records, the structure of the organization was devised by Ada Bessie Swann, Laura Fawcett and the other founding members in accordance with the national constitution. Officers included a president, vice · president, secretary, treasurer, councilor, and alternate councilor, and an executive committee, consisting of elected officers, the retiring president and other members representing "special professional fields" of home economics. The constitution was later revised (in 1963) to include a small executive committee, to transact interim business, a board of trustees, to replace the former executive board and conduct the business of the association, and a council, which approves and helps implement the Program of Work and association budget, and receives progress reports from committees (see: Leadership Structure).

From the beginning, the NJHEA attracted a wide variety of home economics professionals in education, industry and business. Student clubs in high schools were granted state and national membership though club membership was eventually limited to those college clubs in institutions offering home economics programs. (At present, home economics students in colleges with professional programs may become members of the state and national organization under the Student Members section.) Despite the increases in membership during the twenties, membership declined to 142 during the Depression. The results of the prolonged economic contraction was further compounded in the 1940s when membership was restricted to only those with a major in home economics or a related field in a college or university.

Although a relatively small organization, home economists organized even smaller sectional groups during WWII -- travel had become i ncreasingly difficult for many. Thus, the NJHEA is actually a confederation of smaller groups organized on a community level. During the war years, groups of home economists formed in Atlantic City, Camden, Newark and Paterson. In the post war years, however, with increased affluence, leisure and a new commitment to modern domesticity, membership sored. In the early fiftees, the Camden and Atlantic City groups combined into t he Southern Counties Home Economics District (SCHED) and thus initiated a trend toward local organizing that would last for nearly two decades. Beginning in 1950, the Essex County section organized followed by the Union County and Bergen-Passaic districts in 1955. In 1956, home economists in Monmouth County organized and in 1962, the Middlesex County district formed. In 1965, the Mercer-Huntingdon district organized as did the Northwest Jersey Section the following year. In 1972, however, local groups moved toward consolidation. The Essex County section reorganized as the Essex-Hudson district. So did the Monmouth-Ocean district, The former Union County section became part of the Union-Somerset district, Within sections, the formation of Home Economists in Home Making (HEIH) groups further extended membership to those engaged in homemaking and not presently employed in the field.

What was the purpose of geographical districts? While they began as wartime expedience, regional di visions came to provide a way of reaching a greater number of home economists and involving them in the activities of the Association. For example, sectional groups provide a means to discuss issues facing home economics professionals between the larger and less frequent state meetings. The NJHEA meets at least twice a year, (The Annual Meeting is held in the Spring as stated in the constitution and by-laws of the association.) Yet, during the year, the NJHEA and its geographical sections provide workshops, seminars and conferences for home economists in New Jersey, Most geographical sections publish their own newsletter, which supplements the Newsletter of the NJHEA, begun in 1950 to keep state members informed of issues and events. (All members automatically receive the national Journal of Home Economics as well,) It is also on this local level that the Association draws from for future professional leaders who gain experience on the local level.

Biographical / Historical

Leadership Structure

Executive Committee: (May exercise powers of Board of Trustees in the conduct and management of the business and affairs of the Association during intervals between meetings of the Board)

President President-Elect (in alternate years) Vice-President Recording Secretary Treasurer Councilor (Alternate Councilor in absence of Councilor) One other Trustee (chosen by Board of Trustees)

Board of Trustees: (Shall conduct the business of the Association)

Elected Officers: (President, President-Elect, V.P., Secretaries, Councilor and Alternate) Chairperson of Nominating Committee Representative of each affiliated Geographic Group Chairperson of each Professional Section Chairperson of each Standing Committee (which receives notice of Board meetings and has privilege of floor but not right to vote)

Council: (Shall approve the program of work and budget of Association; help implement Program of Work; receives progress reports from committees) Same membership as Board of Trustees Chairperson of each Subject Matter Section President of College Chapters Representative of each affiliated Home Economics in Homemaking (HEIH) Group

Other Leadership Roles:

Chairperson and members of each Administrative Committe: Nominating, Program, Finance and Auditing Chairperson and members of each Ad Hoc Committee: Joint NJDA-NJHEA, ByLaws, Archives, Higher Education Parliamentarian Delegates to AHEA Assembly of Delegates

(source: NJHEA, 9/18/68 in Leadership Rosters file)

See attahced file for a list of principal officers by year.

Arrangement

Series Descriptions

1. ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORIES. 1888 - 1963, 1963 - 1973, .03 CU. FT.

Arranged chronologically.bWritten and published by the state organization, these two organizational histories document the formation and development of the NJHEA. The histories pertain to the structure, membership, secitonal groups or district associations, meetings, and finances of the organization. In addition, included in appendices of each are an organizational chronology, membership affiliations and officers lists.

2. BY-LAWS. 1946 - 1984, 03 CU. FT.

Arranged chronologically. The by-laws document the development of the organizational structure and function of the NJHEA in regard to affiliation, purpose, officers, governing bodies, meetings, amendments, elections, duties of offices, membership and dues, and committees. Included the constitutions and by-laws, certificate of incorporation, and revised versions of by-laws (1946, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1963)

3. ANNUAL REPORTS. 1948 - 1968; 1970 - 1971; 1974 - 1976; 1979 - 1980, .07 CU. FT.

Arranged chronologically. Document the yearly meetings, activities, projects, membership and leadership and reflects growing diversity of the NJHEA. Included with the annual reports are lists of state offices, appointees, correspondence, board of trustees reports to the membership, Review of Activities of NJHEA report (1966 - 1967), Report to Members (1968), legislative report, programs of work (1974 - 1975), and reports of accomplishments of Plan of Action.

4. NEWSLETTERS. 1928 - 1986, 14 CU. FT.

Arranged chronologically. Newsletters document the activities and contemporary issues of concern to the NJHEA. Newsletter articles pertain to elected officers, sections and state activities, meetings, competitions and awards and announcements. In addition to published newsletters, also included are typed selections from the Association newsletters published between August 1928 and March 1978 as compiled by the Association.

5. LEADERSHIP ROSTERS. 1925 - 1956; 1960 - 1978; 1982 - 1983, .07 CU. FT.

Arranged chronologically. Documents office and term of NJHEA officers in addition to home addresses of president, v.p., secretary, treasurer, councilor, alternate councilor, professional sections, geographical groups, bureau and standing committee chairs, Board of Trustees, executive, administrative and standing committee chairs. In addition to leadership rosters, records include flowcharts of NJHEA officers between 1925 and 1955 as compiled by the organization and leadership structure charts.

6. MEMBERSHIP LISTS. 1926 - 1978; 1984 - 1985, .5 CU. FT.

Arranged chronologically. Documents names and addresses of members of the NJHEA since its inception to 1978 and again from 1984 to 1985 . The alphabetical membership lists are presented in various formats according to current technology, including hand-written, printed, duplicated and bound, and computer printouts.

7. GENERAL FILE. 1926 (1957)-(1977) 1986, 5.25 CU. FT.

Grouped chronologically (folders are grouped together by subjects but are not alphabetically arranged). The records document the internal activities of the NJHEA (e.g., geographical sections, committees and professional sections), its relationship to other organizations (e.g., the Peace Corps and the NJ Dietetic Association), and the parent organization, the AHEA. The documents pertain to conventions and meetings, policies and procedures and association activities. Records include correspondence, memoranda, handbooks; reports, annual reports, agendas and programs, pamphlets, certificate of incorporation, newsletters, photographs and convention memorabilia, journals, meeting programs, posters, proclamations, committee lists and journal reprints. The minutes (1949-1985) contained in the GENERAL FILE document the activities of the NJHEA, Executive Commit tee, Board of Trustees, Council, Nominating Committee, Annual Meeting and its relationship to other organizations including the Consumers League of New Jersey, the Home Economists in Homemaking (HEIR), and their parent organization, the AHEA. Documents pertain to finances, organizational structure, meetings, membership, elected officers, publicity and association activities too numerous to list. Minutes dominate the records though some correspondence and notes are included as are attachments such as financial reports, meeting programs, agendas, newspaper clippings, brochures, a Constitution and Officer's Handbook (1956), and reports of the activities of the NJHEA.

Please see attached file for an old container list (arrangement of finding aid not correct).