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Minnesota Extension Home Economics Past and PresentPart Four:Significant Program ContributionsAs Perceived by Extension Staffby Evelyn Quesenberry McDonald
In June 1993 a letter and questionnaire were sent to extension staff members, asking for additional information for this history of Extension Home Economics. The correspondence was sent to all current county extension educators, current state home economics specialists, selected retired specialists, and selected home economics district directors. Responses were requested for two questions:
Responses were received from 16 current county extension educators, 3 current home economics specialists, 2 retired district directors, 4 retired home economics specialists, and 2 retired county home economists. It is interesting to note which program efforts were considered most outstanding by extension staff members. Replies from County Extension EducatorsKeep in touch ProgramIsanti County and the seven-county library system 1984 to 1985. Cooperators: University of Minnesota (Innovative Grant of $3,000), Minnesota Extension Service, Department of Public Health, and East Central Regional Library. Outcomes:
Jean Anderson, Isanti County Extension Educator and County Extension Director Project Support Support Task ForceBlue Earth County 1985 (during the rural crisis). Cooperators: Human Services, Lutheran Social Services, Region 9 Development Commission, libraries, and battered women's shelter. Outcomes:
Mary Lou Ihrke, Blue Earth County Extension Educator Answer-UHennepin County 1987 to present. A computer database handled by volunteers provides researchbased answers to consumer telephone questions. Cooperators: Shirley Barber (Ramsey County), MES Educational Development System, and home economics specialists. Outcomes:
Diane Holmen Corrin, Hennepin Co. Extension Educator, Energy/Environment Public Policy ForumsRoseau County, 1988 to 1993, nine meetings per year. National issues materials were used with members of homemaker groups. Cooperators: Extension homemaker groups and Extension Home Council. Outcome:
Delores Andol, Roseau County Extension Director Making Manadatory Recycling Work
Wabasha County 1989 to 1991. Program effort involved training volunteer recycling advisors and implementing consumer education programs in communities. One of the efforts that received national attention was the recycling sticker program. Cooperators: Wabasha County Recycling Office, volunteers, and the Southeast Minnesota Recyclers Exchange. Outcomes:
Toni Wayne Smith, Wabasha County Extension Educator School-Age Child Care and Self-Care ProgramsWilkin County 1988 to 1993. Program included camps, parent-child workshops, and professional training. Outcome:
Claire Althoff, Wilkin County Extension Educator Project LeadKandiyohi County 1991 to 1993. Leadership development program targeted rural women in Cluster 10 plus Kandiyohi and Renville Counties. Cooperators: Dorothy Rosemaier (Swift County), Ann Bosch (Kandiyohi County), and Annette Patel, coordinator. Outcome:
Ann Engel Bosch, Kandiyohi Co. Extension Educator Financial Management for Limited-Income PersonsRamsey County 1991 to 1993. A Ramsey County community development block grant funded two community program assistants to work 30 hours per week with urban low-income people and small groups in financial management. Approximately 1,500 people were served. Cooperators: Ramsey County Board of Commissioners, Ramsey County executive director's office and block grant, University of Minnesota, food shelves, county work house, shelters, teen moms classes, public housing, social services, St. Paul American Indian Center, and people at community sites. Outcomes:
Shirley Barber, Ramsey Co. Extension Educator Recycling EducationKoochiching County 1991 to 1993. Cooperator: solid waste office. Outcomes:
Christy Bubolz, Koochiching County Extension Educator Rural Health Care IssuesPope County 1992 to 1993. Cooperators: Public Health Nursing, two county hospitals, three nursing homes, and senior citizens. Outcome:
Karen Thompson, Pope County Extension Educator Building Strong, Healthy FamiliesBeltrami County and Big Valley Cluster 1993. Cooperators: mental health and law enforcement agencies. Outcomes:
Constance Simenson, Beltrami County Extension Educator Kids in Chaos: The Impact of Divorce on ChildrenDodge County 1993. Workshop and education materials presented ten times in Winona, Kasson, Albert Lea, Austin, Owatonna, Minneapolis, Mahtomedi, and Mankato. Cooperators: Phyllis Onstad (Winona County) copresenter, child care resource and referral, and parenting resource centers. Outcomes:
Madge Weigrefe, Dodge Co. Extension Educator Gambling and Its Effect on FamiliesSouthwest Minnesota June 1992. Cooperators: Shirley Anderson (Lyon County), Roselyn Biermaier (Yellow Medicine County), Southwest State University at Marshall, and Project Turnabout in Granite Falls. Outcomes;
Sandra Syverson, Jackson County Extension Educator INFO-U Telephone Consumer Information ServiceTen counties in Metro calling area in 1992 and 1993. Cooperators: agriculture, home economics, and youth county educators and specialists in cooperation with staff from the Educational Development System. Outcome:
Rose Allen Jurek, Ramsey County Extension Educator Dino Power: Keeping Our Children HealthySt. Cloud Civic Center, September 27, 1992. "A Safe Day" was a community partnership program that stressed 17 different health and safety issues through an educational, hands-on, fun experience for children and their families, especially those culturally diverse and at high-risk. Cooperators: Cluster 20 counties (Stearns, Sherburne, Benton, and Wright plus outlying central Minnesota counties), Benton County extension office, District 742 Community Services, St. Cloud and Sartell Early Childhood Family Education, WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), St. Cloud Parks and Recreation Department, and Child Care Choices. Outcomes:
Karen Ihnen, Benton Co. Extension Educator Safe Drinking WaterRedwood County schools 1993, for National Drinking Water Week. Cooperators: Soil and water conservation agency, schools. Outcome:
Carol Peterson Trefry, Redwood Co. Extension Educator Replies from Extension Home Economics SpecialistsInvestigation of Home Improvement FraudMinneapolis-St. Paul and Springfield, Illinois 1980 to 1984. Cooperators: WCCO television, Minnesota attorney general, and U.S. Department of Justice. Outcomes:
William Angell, Extension Housing Specialist FOODCOST and FOODAY Computer Software Programs1983 to present. Weekly and monthly food expenditure can be calculated using USDA's plan for cost of food at home (at four levels of expenditure). Cooperator: Dorothy Goss, family resource management specialist. Outcomes:
Nutrition Education for Older AdultsOver the years staff development presentations have been made in Duluth, Hutchinson, Fergus Falls, and at state meetings. Cooperators: Susan Meyers (extension family sociologist), Minnesota Board on Aging, and Congregate Meal Program. Outcomes:
Mary Darling, Extension Nutritionist Family-Based BusinessStatewide 1986 through 1988. Sherri Gahring served as co-chair for this interdisciplinary effort in the Minnesota Extension Service. Cooperators: MES faculty from home economics, community economic development, and agriculture program areas. Outcomes:
Sherri Johnson Gahring, Extension Specialist, Textiles and Apparel Marketing Main StreetIn 60 towns and small cities in Minnesota, 1985 to 1993. Harold Alexander, interior design specialist, presented information, usually in the evening, to owners and managers of local businesses. The following day, individual stores were visited at their invitation by the specialist and county agent for further input and connections. Topics included community image development, customer targeting, exterior and interior store design, signage, first impressions, floor coverings, traffic patterns, lighting, display, and color. Cooperators: County extension agents, local businesses, and community development leaders. Outcomes:
Harold Alexander, Extension Specialist, Interior Design Care of Clothing Worn During Pesticide ApplicationStatewide 1983 to 1993. Cooperators: State staff and county educators working in area of pesticide education/safety. Outcomes:
Wanda Warnes Olson, Extension Specialist, Housing Technology Work of Minnesota Farm WomenTen sites throughout the state 1989 to 1990. Statewide research project. Cooperators: Minnesota Rural Futures and Minnesota Agricultural Women. Outcomes:
Sharon Danes, Extension Specialist, Family Resource Management Regional Indoor Air QualityNorth Central Region, 1987 to 1994. Cooperators: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and extension educators in 12 states. Outcomes:
William Angell, Extension Housing Specialist Kids-Handle With CareThree-year project, launched in Goodhue County in April 1993, to increase parents' awareness of physical punishment and use of alternatives in discipline of children, through education. The project is collaborative and community-based. Cooperators: Children, Youth, and Family Consortium, Minnesota Extension Service, and Family Research Laboratory of the University of New Hampshire. Objectives are to:
Future parent education programs will be offered by Early Childhood Family Education, Headstart, Extension, churches, schools, social services, public health, child care centers and homes, and other organizations. Newspaper articles, radio programs, newsletters, bumper stickers, and videos will be used to present the message. The project will be evaluated by Dr. Murray Straus, sociologist and family violence researcher at the University of New Hampshire. Ronald Pitzer, Family Sociologist and Kathleen Olson, Goodhue Co. Extension Educator Replies from Retired SpecialistsPreliminary Plans for EFNEPWashington DC, 1967-1968. A committee of three was asked to meet to develop preliminary management plans for a federal program, which eventually became EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program). Federal extension specialists wanted a foods program to reach low-income persons. Subject matter was given, but implementation was the committee task. Cooperators: Margaret Brown (federal extension home economics leader), Stella Mitchell (federal home management specialist), and Mary Frances Lamison (Minnesota home management specialist). Every state had an advisory group to carry out federal guidelines in cooperation with state food and nutrition and management specialists. Mary Frances Lamison, Extension Specialist, Home Management (retired) HumanizingStatewide 1976 to 1978 to teach county and state EFNEP staff to better help clientele feel good about themselves and others. Taught in three parts. Cooperators: Patrick Borich (leadership development), Susan Meyers (family relations), and Mary Frances Lamison (management). Outcomes: Popular demand for more programs throughout the state. Patrick Borich and Mary Frances Lamison also went to Arizona Winter School in Tucson to teach this subject matter. Mary Frances Lamison, Extension Specialist, Home Management (retired) Foods and NutritionStatewide 1941 to 1971. Verna Mikesh had this to say: "As I look back on a 30-year Extension career, I am at a loss as to what was my most significant contribution. We had few ways to measure impact, outside of counting noses, or articles made, or kitchens improved. How could we measure the extent of dietary improvement? Perhaps the number of jars of food canned or packages of food frozen may have been a clue, but we didn't make any surveys. How were attitudes and habits changed? How were leadership skills developed? We did see people attending and conducting training meetings and workshops. "As I look back it seems that many of the food projects I led would not be acceptable today. The emphasis on meat in the diet, use of eggs, deep frying, and pie baking would be questioned. Others, such as use of herbs, broiler cookery, bread baking, and foreign foods may have led people to improve their diets. As a county worker I feel my most significant contribution was the encouragement of our youth to go on to school. The emphasis on food safety procedures in the home and institutions may have prevented many illnesses and even deaths. Perhaps this last thought is a clue to the significance of my work. To provide unbiased information that is practical and understandable is important work. I feel that I did that." Verna Mikesh, Home Agent/Extension Specialist, Foods and Nutrition (retired) Cleaning and Adjusting Sewing MachinesEarly 1950s. This was a program for Indian women at Inger, an Indian village in Itasca County. As a county home agent, Edna Jordahl (Cowles) had the goal of getting Indian representation on the Itasca Home Council and of conducting programs in the Indian community. Prior to the sewing machine project, personal contact was made on a one-to-one basis in homes of 13 families. Cooperators: Indian mission, county home council, and county homemakers. Outcomes:
Edna Jordahl (Cowles), Home Agent/Extension Specialist, Home Management (retired) Interior Decorating ClinicsFirst one at International Falls, March 1967, 300 people attending, followed by a second in St. Paul. Clinics spread throughout the state to Crookston, Detroit Lakes, Elbow Lake, Fergus Falls, Jackson, Mankato, Moorhead, Roseau, St. Cloud, Thief River Falls, Wabasha, Zumbrota, and the Twin Cities (where 610 attended a two-day clinic). Cooperators: A librarian at International Falls was involved in the original planning. This was a joint effort of equipment, forestry, and home furnishings specialists and county extension agents (who made all county arrangements). Outcomes:
Myra Zabel, Extension Specialist, Home Furnishings (retired) Replies from Retired County Home EconomistsWork With Southeast AsiansRamsey County 1976 and ongoing. With 14,000 Southeast Asian immigrants in Ramsey County, Extension provided acculturation, training, and preparation in work experiences for youth and adults. Cooperators: Federal, state and county funding, foundations, service organizations, private donations, county board, state legislators, congressmen, and the University of Minnesota. Outcomes:
Catharine Nelson, County Extension Director and Ramsey County 4-H Educator (Retired) Expanded Food and Nutrition Education ProgramRamsey County 1970 to 1984. Evelyn Dose hired, trained, and supervised nutrition education assistants who could relate to low-income families to teach food and nutrition information. Cooperators: Ramsey County Action Program, Ramsey County welfare, food stamp office, American Indian Center, WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), Headstart, and Indochinese Resettlement Office. Outcomes:
Evelyn Dose, Ramsey County Urban Extension Agent (retired) Early Extension ProgramMeeker and Anoka Counties 1955 to 1956. The following statement is quoted from a letter written by Lillian Engen on February 23, 1984, to Ada Todnem Schroeder: "I recall doing lots of dress forms in Meeker County, and victory gardens, and we had a canning project going in Meeker County. We had great sewing machine clinics in Anoka County, and we made pressing hams in Meeker County. I was big stuff in Meeker County, one day speaking at the REA annual meeting on `Let There Be Light,' as I'd seen the countryside in Tennessee lighted by REA." Lillian Engen, Meeker County Home Demonstration Agent (retired)
Brown County 1935 to 1945. Ethel Marmorine Peterson was a half-time club agent for six years and home demonstration agent 1943 to 1945. The following statement is quoted from a letter she wrote in 1984 to Ada Todnem: "As for what I remember about Extension when I was a club agent during six-month periods of 1935 through 1941, and then worked for my room and board to go to the University of Minnesota the rest of the year. Ada Todnem, the home agent, was the inspiration that helped me believe in myself. Without her I would never have gone to school. "I had a '28 Chevy Coupe with disk wheels that squeaked after I had driven through a mud hole. I was stuck many times in snow on a lonely road. Many roads were trails-no gravel. I was also stuck in blow-sand. One time when I was coming out of a home there the goats were having a time on the top of my car. After I got a new car with shiny black paint a turkey gobbler scratched the door all over when he saw his reflection on the car door. He was fighting mad. "Then the Depression, the dry years, and grasshoppers. The 4-H club tours were held anyway. Everyone was learning to cope. The grasshoppers ate the gardens right down to the ground, especially the onions and carrots. They chewed them off down into the soil. The 4-H clubs of that time were beautiful family affairs. The 4-H clubs filled a need for learning and recreation-no TV. "I worked from March, 1943, to September 1, 1945, in a southern Minnesota county-the war years. There was rationing, shortages, sugar stamps, gas stamps, tractor gas stamps. Our projects were on sugar substitutes, remodeling clothes, using feed sacks and flour sacks, refinishing furniture, canning, testing pressure cookers, drying fruits, whole grain baking, and making soap." Ethel Marmorine Peterson, Brown County Home Demonstration Agent (retired) Beltrami County 1935 to 1943, The following statement is quoted from a letter written by Ada Todnem (Schroeder) on March 1, 1984 to Rosella Qualey: "I became an agent on September 23, 1935. The home agents who were on the staff were all considerably older than I was. There were not many-maybe a dozen-and I cannot remember their names. I was the first one hired under some new funds that were available and there was a large number hired very shortly after, but I was the youngest agent for quite a few years. When I began to work in Beltrami County, I was told that half of the people in the county were on relief. I remember going out to contact people to organize groups. They were so eager for information, and many groups were formed by those contacted. "Then REA had a self-help program whereby people worked putting in the lines and the people got paid for their work, so they could wire their farms for electricity. Milton "Milt" Taylor, County Agent, got the county Farm Bureau to order washing machines, irons, etc. in large quantities. The Farm Bureau just added a 10% overhead so people were able to buy appliances. "I do remember the cotton mattress program. We organized the centers, taught the supervisors, and 2,000 mattresses were made. Then later, 2,000 comforters were made. For many it was the first real mattress, and really appreciated. The ticks were sewed together by the WPA sewing center in Pipestone. I would deliver the ticks as I checked the centers. The Kelliher Center, north of Bemidji, had quite a thing going. The school bus drivers spent their days at the center helping wherever needed. They got to be experts. They enjoyed it-the coffee pot was always on and the ladies always had a variety of goodies." Ada Todnem Schroeder, Beltrami County Home Demonstration Agent (retired) Replies from Retired District DirectorsMulticounty Area ProgrammingNortheast District 1960s. District and county staff, for all subject matter areas. Cooperators: District teams, with support from extension administration. Outcomes:
Minerva Jenson, Assistant District Director, Northeast District (retired) Program Development Process Home Economics/Family LivingEast Central District 1960s and beyond. Cooperators: County home economists and county leaders. Outcomes:
Rosella Qualey, Assistant District Director, East Central District and Central District (retired) Back to Table of Contents
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Youth
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