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The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live Audiobook
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The term "home economics" may conjure traumatic memories of lopsided hand-sewn pillows or sunken muffins. But common conception obscures the story of the revolutionary science of better living. The field exploded opportunities for women in the twentieth century by reducing domestic work and providing jobs as professors, engineers, chemists, and businesspeople. And it has something to teach us today.
In the surprising, often fiercely feminist, and always fascinating The Secret History of Home Economics, Danielle Dreilinger traces the field's history from Black colleges to Eleanor Roosevelt to Okinawa, from a Betty Crocker brigade to DIY techies. These women—and they were mostly women—became chemists and marketers, studied nutrition, health, and exercise, tested parachutes, created astronaut food, and took bold steps in childhood development and education.
Home economics followed the currents of American culture even as it shaped them. Dreilinger brings forward the racism within the movement along with the strides taken by women of color who were influential leaders and innovators. She also looks at the personal lives of home economics' women, as they chose to be single, share lives with other women, or try for egalitarian marriages.
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“Dreilinger’s carefully researched homage to a field that is often belittled chronicles its origins in practical science and its key role in establishing nutritional standards, the federal poverty lines, radio programming, and more.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“Dreilinger charmed me with her account of home ec’s fascinating past.”
— Wall Street Journal -
“A fascinating history of the field and of the contributions of some very determined women.”
— Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Awards
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A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice of the Week
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An Amazon Editor’s Top Pick
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Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
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About Danielle Dreilinger
Danielle Dreilinger, a Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow, is a former education reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. She also wrote for the Boston Globe and worked at the Boston NPR station WGBH. She holds a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Columbia University.
About Rachel Perry
Harvard Business Review is the leading destination for smart management thinking. Through its flagship magazine, eleven internationally licensed editions, books from Harvard Business Review Press, and digital content and tools published on HBR.org, Harvard Business Review provides professionals around the world with rigorous insights and best practices to lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact.