Mary Louise (Mary Lou) Armstrong, from Portland, Oregon, earned a BS in home economics from Oregon State College in 1943. She enrolled at Oregon State in fall 1939 and participated in a variety of student activities including Mortar Board, the Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and the OSC Round Table. She was secretary of the Senior Class in 1942-1943. After graduation she worked as a Regional Home Economist for the Live Stock and Meat Board and gave public presentations on meat cookery.
The Mary Louise Armstrong Collection consists of materials documenting Armstrong's student years at Oregon State College and her work as a Regional Home Economist for the Live Stock and Meat Board. The collection consists of newspaper clippings and photographs. The news clippings include announcements and news reports of public presentations on meat cookery given by Armstrong and others from the Live Stock and Meat Board. Several of the clippings are from newspapers in New England. The presentations addressed and demonstrated how to select cuts of meat and prepare meat dishes.
The photographs include group photographs of members of Mortar Board and the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. The Mortar Board photos were made by Howells Studio in Corvallis. The collection also includes promotional photos for Armstrong's demonstrations on meat cookery as well as an image of a group of young women in front of a Purina facility, perhaps in St. Louis, Missouri.
Collection is open for research.
Mary Louise Armstrong Collection, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.
The materials were transferred to the Archives by the College of Health and Human Sciences in 2010.
The Archives' collections include extensive resources documenting home
economics instruction and research at Oregon State. The papers of numerous
home economists and home economics faculty are held by the Archives
including