Considering the Past: Topics in M.C. History

In 1931, Ellen Brewer, head of the Home Economics Department (1922-1966), and her students created an apartment out of 3 suites on the first floor of Vann Hall, to be used for "laboratory work in household management" and where senior home economics majors could put their learning from the last three years into practice. 

This laboratory arrangement for Home Economics programs was not unique to Meredith College; such “homes” existed in several college settings.

 One suite in Vann was converted to a kitchen with a refrigerator, gas stove, and cabinets, and decorated with green and buff linoleum and matching curtains and with green and red china. The suite also provided a dining room with an adjacent butler's pantry equipped with shelving in what had been the bathroom. A second suite provided a bedroom for the instructor and a common living room decorated in a “mulberry and blue” theme. A loaned sofa was reupholstered by Brewer and her students. The third suite was used for bedrooms for the students.

The responsibilities of the apartment were divided into four jobs: manager (soon changed to "hostess"), housekeeper, cook and assistant cook. Responsibilities rotated every week for four weeks, giving each student a chance to experience each set of chores. Of course, this experience was in addition to the students’ regular class work and social lives. For their time and effort, the students earned two credit hours. (Eventually becoming three hours.)

The hostess planned meals, being sure to stay within a pre-established budget while meeting all dietary requirements, consulted with the cook, and did the marketing. During their week, each hostess was required to host a meal with three to five guests, which was often Meredith College faculty, but could include friends or family. In addition, responsibilities over time came to include having fresh flowers for the house, as well as a newspaper and a current magazine.

The cook and the assistant cook prepared the meals, waited on the table and cleaned the kitchen. The housekeeper was responsible for keeping the house clean, plus the laundry and ironing. (Occasionally a fifth position, an assistant housekeeper, was added.)

Shortly after the apartment opened, the resident students determined that their "home" needed a name and christened it "Mere-Ellen-Love," after Meredith College, Ellen Brewer and Miss Brewer's mother, Love Brewer, who had helped furnish the apartment. This name was wisely shortened to "Mere-Ello" at the suggestion of art instructor Ida Poteat.

For a quarter of a century, home economics students rotated in and out of the apartment, each class budgeting time, effort and a little money for small updates and improvements, supervised by the same instructor, assistant professor Jenni Hanyen. Participants were frequently listed in the student or city newspapers, especially when the hostess held the weekly dinner party, often with a festive theme or menu.  A student observed that the "home management house certainly gives us practical experience.”

But the population of Meredith College continued to grow, and the three suites were needed as dorm space. In 1958, Meredith College rented a house at 1709 Hillsborough St. to use as the home management house. This, however, was only a temporary solution, as the resident students often didn't have cars to commute to campus.

In 1959, the Board of Trustees announced the gift of what would become the Brewer House, donated by Talcott Brewer in honor of his cousin, Professor Ellen Brewer. According to an article in the Twig, no expense was spared to furnish and equip the house as a modern, efficient "dream house" with modern appliances (dishwasher, disposal unit, washer, dryer, vacuum cleaner, floor washer and polisher) and storage facilities. The first students moved into the Brewer House in 1960.

Even as the department changed names and created specialized areas of professional education in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the home management class continued largely unchanged until 1990.  But in a News and Observer article from the summer of 1980, there was evidence that expectations had shifted: “And so the experience will be realistic for a working woman, students must carry a full course load or be working in the community….” In addition, instructor Betty Cook observed that “the instructors used to come through and scrutinize every little thing. But we’ve changed the emphasis to an experience in getting along with others. We tell the girls we want the house to be comfortable and pleasant, but not formal.”  Nevertheless, the women participating in the program were still expected “to complete a home improvement project like redecorate a room, entertain guests, care for a small child for a day and plan one social activity such as a tea or small reception.”

In 1991, the Ellen Brewer Home Management House converted to the Ellen Brewer Infant and Toddler Lab Home and by 1999, offered a licensure program in birth-through- kindergarten education. In addition to providing child care in a home-like environment, the lab also provides an educational opportunity for students in the Meredith Child Development program by "working with, caring for and observing the babies…”