The McDowell times. [volume] (Keystone, W. Va.) 1904-1941, 1941-02-14


librarian of the
Working Women's library for which
she was paid 81 week. However,
she raised that to 50 by writing a
weekly article for the New York
Leader. This led to her being asked
to prepare the semi-annual index of
the National Quarterly Review and
later to her becoming a member of
the editorial staff of that publica-
ton.
In those days most Americans still
believed that "women's place is in
the home" and the nearest thing to
a career open to them was en-
ployment as a seamstrcss. In or
der to make them more efficient in
this occupation, Miss Corson in 1873
started in her own home a free
training school for the young women
of New York city. The school grew
so rapidly that she was forced to
seek larger quarters and these were
provided by Wheeler and Wilson,
manufacturers of sewing machines
in their building. They lent ma
chimes for the use of the school, as
did other manufacturers, and with
in year more than 1000 girls had
been taught how to sew and at least
three-fourths of them Immediately
found employment
Trained Stenographers.
BY this time Miss Corson had also
added stenography and bookkeeping
to the curriculum of her school and
soon afterwards began giving train
ing for domestic service. AS her
school grew she took large house,
used the top floor as a dormitory for
her students, the first floor for class
rooms where sewing, laundering and
other household work was taught
and the basement for a kitchen
where meals were served at cost
to many girls employed in the
neighborhood.
Out of the latter grew her belief
that diet can make men strong or
weak, intelligent or stupid" and she
began her life-work of teaching both
the rich and the poor the proper way
to prepare foods. She did this
through public lectures and through
articles which she wrote for the
newspapers.
In 1875 Miss Corson established in
New York Cooking school for la
dies" the first of it's kind in Ameri-
ca, and within a short time l 1000
women were receiving instruction
there annually. She charged rich
women high fees to attend the school
but asked only so cents a lesson
from women of the middle class and
gave instruction free to poor girls.
The next year, during the railroad
strikes, when there was great dis
tress among the poorer classes she
wrote a valuable little book, Eff
teen-Cent Dinners for Workingmen' 8
Families" It cost $4,000 to print
and distribute this booklet, free of
charge, to workingmen earning 81 so
a day or less, but all but 500 of
this sum was provided by Miss Cor
son out of the earnings from her
school. incidentally, her booklet was
translated into several foreign Ian
guages and soon had a worldwide
circulation. It was a boon to the
poor people Of every nation.
After the success of this booklet,
Miss Corson became a lecturer on
diet and founded many other cook
ing schools. She also began cam
paigning for the introduction of the
study Of cooking into the public
schools and because Of this she was
asked by the United States commits
sioner of education to prepare q
Dietary for Schools" which was
published and distributed by the de-
partment of the interior. Her long
career of usefulness, especially 10
the laboring classes, came 20 an
end with her death in 1897.