Chemistry Wives, Kansas State University, December 1965.
Riley County Historical Society
Manhattan, KS.
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In 1965, the Chemistry Wives at Kansas State University handcrafted a cookbook to aid the average home cook and in a communal effort showcased their culinary expertise. The book was locally produced and contains tabbed sections, cooking tips, and a smorgasbord of recipes contributed by over 39 women. Our copy survived because it was donated to the Riley County Historical Society by the late Vesta Walker, who was not one of the Chemistry Wives but earned a degree in home economics at Kansas State and worked as a local elementary school teacher and social worker.
The Chemistry Wives at Kansas State University was a group heavily involved in the domestic sciences and science holds an important presence in the artifact. “Domestic Sciences” was a degree created thanks to the efforts of Ellen Swallow Richards, an environmental chemist and the first female instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Land grant colleges like Kansas State University premiered the degree across the United States. Creating the cookbook, the Chemistry Wives left us not only stories about the recipes they enjoyed but also larger histories about their community, interests, values, and creative capacities. Similarly, the collector and donor of the cookbook, Vesta Walker, formed a sort of genealogical connection to the copy that allows us to learn about Walker’s life and aspirations amid the home economics movement and investigate her relationship with the artifact.
Michael McCosh