Description: Probably dated to the 1930s, this photograph shows a home economics class at Akron University. Originally founded in 1870, the University of Akron was known as Buchtel College. The college was established by the Universalist Church with financial help from Akron industrialist, and Universalist Church member, John Buchtel. In 1909, Buchtel College became a private, non-denominational school, before becoming a municipal university of the city of Akron in 1913. By this time, courses were offered in engineering, commercial subjects, secretarial science, teaching, and home economics. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F02_031
Subjects: University of Akron; Home economics; Students; Universities and colleges; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)
 

Description: The handwritten caption on the reverse is unclear, but it seems to read, "Home Economics Mengo Hi School." This is a photograph of several teen girls cooking in a home economics class at an unknown Ohio school. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F07_028_001
Subjects: Home economics; Education; Students; Cooking; High Schools--Ohio; Classrooms -- Ohio;
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Reverse reads:" PORTSMOUTH - Home Economies room at Sciotoville School. (Used in The Ohio Guide) Ident. - B-11 to Illinois; National Picture Book; 1/9/41; Location- Portsmouth, Ohio; Credit - Information Unit WPA in Ohio; Caption - Home Economics Class, Sciotoville School. This photo must be returned to Ohio Writers' Project, 8 E. Chestnut St., Columbus, O." This is a photograph of girls learning how to sew dresses in a home economics class at Sciotoville High School in Portsmouth, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F06_011_001
Subjects: High schools--Ohio; Home economics; Sewing; Sewing machines; Classrooms; Girls--Study and teaching; Sciotoville (Portsmouth, Ohio); Students; Education; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Portsmouth (Ohio); Scioto County (Ohio)
 

Description: The handwritten note on the back reads: "Trumbull Co. Brookfield Leap[?] School." This is a photo of a home economics class most likely in Brookfield Township School in Trumbull County, Ohio. There are several girls standing around tables in aprons preparing recipes for class. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F07_031_001
Subjects: Hershey Chocolate Company; Home economics--Ohio--1930-1940; Education; Trumbull County (Ohio)--History; Girls--Study and teaching; Classrooms; Students; Cooking; High Schools--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Dated September 19, 1936, this photograph shows young ladies who are students of the Butler County Emergency School's homemaking class. Butler County Emergency School was a Works Progress Administration program, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The photograph's caption reads "Butler County Emergency Schools. Elm St., Oxford, Ohio, Mrs. Viola Smith, Teacher. Class in Homemaking- Cooking, Food Values, Meal Planning, Sewing, Quilting, Basketry. This class wrote a play and dramatized it in Stewart High School. From the proceeds they purchased materials to make aprons and dresses so they might learn more about sewing, designing and finishing garments." The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a government office that hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects from April 8, 1935 to June 30, 1943. In the first six months that the WPA existed, more than 173, 000 Ohioans, including both men and women, found employment through this program. More than 1, 500 unemployed teachers in Ohio found work through the WPA teaching illiterate adults how to read. In twelve separate counties, primarily in southeastern Ohio, more than twenty-five percent of families had at least one member working for the WPA during the late 1930s. By the end of 1938, these various workers had built or improved 12, 300 miles of roads and streets and constructed 636 public buildings, several hundred bridges, hundreds of athletic fields, and five fish hatcheries. WPA employees made improvements to thousands of more buildings, roads, and parks within Ohio. WPA artists also painted a number of murals in Ohio post offices. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F04_006_1
Subjects: African Americans; Home economics--Ohio; Schools--Ohio; Works Progress Administration; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Oxford (Ohio); Butler County (Ohio)