Omaha daily bee., 1910-04-10

llcious cafe au ialt. good bread and butter
a nice omclet or some savory little portion
OF meat But for the country tourist IN
America what Is the prospect What is
the coffee7 What the tea and the meat2
And above ali-the butter7
This in 1si0. while woman's sphere was
stlll the sacred stove, IL may seem 70 in
dicate that the American woman could not
cook even before she went to school or
wanted to vote. Indeed the book through
out refers in gloomy terms to the culinary
ability OF those grandmothers who are held
up as models and examples today.
First school kitchen.
In 1883 Boston women asked the privi-
lege Of fitting up a room in the basement
OF the Tennyson street public school as a
Kitchen, and providing instruction in do
nestle science at their own expense. The
superintendent OF buildings demurred, and
finally granted them only portion Of
the space they asked for This room de-
veloped into Boston School Kitchen No 1.
the first in the world.
At the end OF two years the city itself
was running four school kitchens and
iEstructlng LOO girls. This has been the
history all over the country. Invariably
women outside the school. usually club
women, have pushed the introduction
Of the subject against more or less indif-
ference or opposition on the part Of school
boards
About 1850 a New York woman, Miss
Emily Huntington, conceived a new idea
In the education Of small children. This
was the kitchen garden, based on the
idea of the kindergarten In this, with
dimnutve furniture and to the accom-
paniment OF little games and songs, chill
dren learned to do all sorts Of house
work.
A number OF New York women, includ-
ing Miss Huntington and Miss Grace
Dodge, organized the Kitchen Garden as
sociation, to open these little kitchen
gardens for teaching small children house
work. This was actually the origin OF the
great Teachers College, with its s., 200 200
plant. In 1884 the Kitchen Garden assocla-
tion was transformed into the Industrial
Education association with the object
of securing instruction in all domestic sub
jects In the public schools. No teachers
In these subjects could be found, and 30
the association opened training school
for them which developed into Teachers
College.
The agricultural colleges of the west
took the lead in opening departments of
domestic science and the thing is now gem
eral
Some far seeing persons can perceive in
this movement the process of Transforming
an unskilled trade into a profession. A
woman college graduate will not be a cook.
But she will cook all day In front of a.
class. 1t is not the cooking she objects to,
but the social rank. In the new profession
she ranks as teacher and when she is
invited to house she goes in at the front
door Exactly what Florence Nightingale
did for Mrs. Camp when she invented the
profession Of trained nursing the leaders
in the household. economics movement are
doing for the houseworker
Despite all complaints OF private house.
Keeping in the past and present some of
the authorities declares it is likely that no
class of unframed workers for whom thewe
was no apprentice system and no trade
schools anywhere, ever did so well with
their work as the housewives.
Despite all modern facilities, improve
ments and methods" said BENJAMIN G.
Andrews. secretary Of the home economies
department of Teachers' college the other
day, the housewives bread is still the
best"