Ewing, Emma P. (Emma Pike), 1838-

Dates

• Existence: July 1838 - February 1917

Biographical Information

Emma Ewing was born in Broome County, New York in 1838. Emma married W.P. Ewing in 1863. After the Civil War, Emma gained national recognition as a cooking instructor and became known as "the woman who would have taught America to make good bread if America could have been taught." Emma authored several books, including titles such as Cooking and Castle-building (1880), Soup and Soup-making (1882), and A Text-book of Cookery, for Use in Schools (1899), among others. In 1882, she established the Chicago School of Cookery. Emma went  to Iowa State University in 1884 as the leader of the Domestic Economy Department.  She left in 1887 to head the newly formed Department of Domestic Economy at Purdue University, becoming the first female department head at Purdue. In 1889, Ewing left Purdue and was involved as both the dean of the Chautauqua Assembly in New York and as a traveling lecturer. In 1892, she formed the Housekeepers’ National League to improve training in the domestic sciences. In addition, she also founded the Model Home School of Household Economics in 1898, which was affiliated with Marietta College in Ohio. Ewing died in February, 1917.

Citation:

Board of Trustees minutes. (21 December 1886). BOTM18861221, Board of trustees minutes. Purdue University Archives and Special Collections, West Lafayette IN. https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/collection/bot/id/20363

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