Florence Alberta Fallgatter (1891 – April 8, 1973) was an American educator and home economist. She was head of the

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

department at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

from 1938 to 1958, the first woman president of the American Vocational Association, and president of the

American Home Economics Association American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) is an American professional association that networks professionals in the area of family and consumer science. It was founded in 1908 as the American Home Economics Association by Ellen ...

(AHEA) from 1950 to 1952.

Early life and education

Fallgatter was born in

Rock Valley, Iowa Rock Valley is a city in Sioux County, Iowa, the North Western corner of Iowa, United States, along the Rock River. The population was 4,059 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography Rock Valley is located at (43.201624, -96.296379). According ...

, and lived in

Parker, South Dakota Parker is a city in Turner County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,194 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Turner County. Parker is bordered on its eastern side by South Dakota State Highway 19. Its northern side is b ...

as a girl. She earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and a master's degree from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by Iowa State University.

Career

Fallgatter taught school in Iowa and Minnesota as a young woman. In 1926 she was state president of the Montana Home Economics Association. From 1935 to 1938, she was chief of the Home Economics Education Service, a program of the

United States Office of Education The Office of Education, at times known as the Department of Education and the Bureau of Education, was a small unit in the Federal government of the United States, Federal Government of the United States within the United States Department of the ...

; she succeeded

Adelaide Steele Baylor Adelaide Steele Baylor (October 14, 1860 – December 18, 1935) was an American educator and school administrator. She was chief of the Home Economics Education Service in the United States Office of Education from 1923 to 1935. Early life and ...

as chief, and was in turn succeeded by Edna P. Amidon. She was a home economics instructor at the University of Minnesota in 1923. She was a professor and, from 1938 to 1958, head of the

department at

, the largest such department in the United States. Fallgatter was national president of Phi Upsilon Omicron from 1934 to 1938. In 1945 she testified before a Senate hearing on women's postwar employment. She was the first woman president of the American Vocational Association, an office she held from 1946 to 1947. As AVA president, she preferred state control over federal control of vocational education programs. In 1949 she attended the International Federation of Home Economics congress in Sweden. In 1951 she served on the planning committee for the White House Conference for Children and Youth. She was president of the American Home Economics Association (AHEA) from 1950 to 1952. She chaired the advisory board of the ''Journal of Home Economics''.

Publications

* ''The Teaching of Art Related to the Home: Suggestions for content and method in related art instruction in the vocational program in home economics'' (1931, with Elsie Wilson Gwynne) * ''The home project in homemaking education'' (1933, with Jane Hinckley Blake) * "Consumer Education Aids" (1934) * "The Modern Homemaking Department" (1936) * ''Space and Equipment for Homemaking Instruction: A Guide to Location and Arrangement of Homemaking Departments'' (1936, with Edna P. Amidon) * "Trends in Home Economics Education" (1951) * "Our Responsibility for Freedom as Home Economists of Today" (presidential address, 1951) * ''A guide for planning homemaking departments in Iowa'' (1955, with Louise Keller and Gladys Grabe)

Personal life

Fallgatter died in 1973, in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

. Her grave is in the Iowa State University Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fallgatter, Florence 1891 births 1973 deaths People from Rock Valley, Iowa Iowa State University faculty Home economists 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators University of Minnesota alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni