School of Family and Consumer Sciences records, 1890-2001

The School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Idaho was originally named the Department of Domestic Science. In 1902, the department was created and aligned with the College of Letters and Science. In 1905, the name had been changed to the Department of Domestic Economy. By 1911, the name changed to the Department of Home Economics. From 1915 to 1919, a School of Household Arts and School of Homemaking in the College of Agriculture was set up for rural people and extension workers. In 1974, the Department of Home Economics became the School of Home Economics. By 1993 the School of Home Economics became the School of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Mary Hall Niccolls and Margaret Ritchie were two of the most instrumental figures in the evolution of the School of Family and Consumer Sciences. Hall was a student at Idaho from 1901-1908, and contributed a large endowment to the school in 1963 that established the Mary Hall Niccolls Scholarship Fund. That same year, the university named the Mary Hall Niccolls Home Economics Building in her honor. Ritchie was a professor and head of the Department of Home Economics from 1938-1959, and continued to teach until 1965. The university established the Margaret Ritchie Distinguished Lecture, and in 1993, renamed the school the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences in her honor.

The Home Management House served as a hands-on practice facility for homemakers for many years. Originally, the department rented a house beginning in 1920. In 1938, the university purchased a house that was utilized as a practice cottage for home economics students, and in 1965 the Home Management House was built to replace the previous one.

The School of Family and Consumer Sciences has had a number of auxiliary organizations that have augmented the curriculum with honorary and fraternal experiences for students in the program. It should be noted that Phi Upsilon Omicron (P.U.O.) is the only organization that retains its original name. The Idaho Home economics Association (I.H.E.A.) is now called the Idaho American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (I.A.A.F.C.S.) The American Home Economics Association (A.H.E.A.) is now known as the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (A.A.F.C.S.). The Student Home Economics Association (S.H.E.A.) is now called the Student Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (S.A.F.C.S.). The Idaho Extension Homemakers Council is no longer an active organization.