Ellen Swallow Richards

By:By:By:By: Elizabeth Johnson Period 8

Importance of Ellen Swallow

Richards Today

• Today, women are allowed to pursue any career they wish.

– This was partly because of the work of the scientist Ellen Swallow Richards.

– Her advancements in sanitation, home economics and women’s education have greatly influenced our world today.

Growing Up …Growing Up …Growing Up …Growing Up …• Born into a poor New England family,

Ellen never had much money.– Much of her childhood was spent caring for

her ill mother.

– After many tireless years of cleaning and cooking, she earned $300, which admitted her to Vassar College.

• She studied astronomy and chemistry, but was never awarded the position of a chemist at the school.

Massachusetts Institute of

Technology• Later Richards attended

the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

– She was the first woman in America to be accepted to a scientific school.

– She received her Bachelor’s Degree for her thesis on chemical analysis and a Masters from Vassar for Chemistry.

Married Life• In 1875, Richards married

a Professor named Robert H. Richards.– He was the head of the

mining department.

– They were happily married for the rest of her life.

– Once she was married, she donated $1000 annually to MIT to further women’s instruction there.

WOMEN’S LAB

• In 1876, Richards opened the Women’s Laboratory at MIT, because women couldn’t take the same courses as men.

– As the assistant instructor, she taught chemistry, mineralogy, and applied biology.

– She did so with out pay.

– Eventually the lab closed. However, this meant there was no need for separate, special courses for women.

State Board of Health

• That same year, William Nichols opened MIT’s first lab of sanitary chemistry.

• Richards decided to head the survey to find the quality of inland bodies of water in MA.

– This led to the first sewage treatment plant in Lowell.

– From 1887 to 1897 she was the water analyst for the State Board of Health.

Beginning Home Economics• Home Economics is

defined as “the art and science of home management.”

• She founded the New England Kitchen and the Boston School of Housekeeping.

– Unfortunately, both these endeavors failed.

– After this, she began to give conferences in Lake Placid.

A.H.E.A.A.H.E.A.A.H.E.A.A.H.E.A.

• The conferences gained more and more attention, so Richards formed the American Home Economics Association.

– Dedicated to “the improvement of living conditions in our home, the institutional household, and the community.”

– She was elected president of the AHEA in 1908.

American Association of University American Association of University American Association of University American Association of University WomenWomenWomenWomen

• She was also one of the founding mothers of the AAUW.

• Their purpose was to find wider opportunities for the training and education of women in America.

• There are more that 100,000 members today.

– This foundation awards scholarships to women entering colleges and universities.

Publications

• Among her many writings are:

– Air, Water, and Food from a Sanitary

Standpoint (1900)

– Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning: A

Manual for House-Keepers

– The Cost of Food

– The Science of Nutrition

– Domestic Economy in Public Education

Conclusion

• Ellen Swallow Richards made numerous contributions during her life to better improve the lives of women. She also fought for everyone’s health by pioneering in home economics.

• I am very thankful that she did these things and I feel it effects not only the people of her time, but us today as well.– “If you’re confident that your

tap water is safe or your groceries are edible, your confidence rests on the work of Ellen Richards.”