The University of Idaho Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences got its start in 1902 as the Department of Domestic Science — it would then change its name again to the Department of Home Economics.
Today and Saturday the school will celebrate 120 years with an open house, tailgate party and the Margaret Ritchie Distinguished Speaker Series.
Now, in 2022, the school hosts degrees in apparel, textiles and design; child development; early childhood education; family and consumer sciences; and food and nutrition. Director Shelley McGuire said the school has undergone improvements over the years like adding industry-standard equipment for the textile department, updating the child development lab and adding a new food lab in 2014.
McGuire said the school has maintained an interdisciplinary approach over the years and students can learn about topics from nutrition to personal and family finances and human development.
The school started with classes which ran the range of home economics including child development and nutrition. The school would be incorporated into the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1982. A decade later, in 1993, the school would change its name again, to honor a longtime head, Margaret Ritchie, who ran the department from 1938-59.
The festivities will start today with the Family and Consumer Sciences Symposium from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Niccolls Building on the UI campus and will feature faculty and experts in the field. There will be a complimentary lunch and no registration is required. Symposium speakers include Jan Fleener Scholl, Kirstin Jensen, Shelly Johnson and Sonya Meyer.
The Margaret Ritchie Distinguished Speaker is Linda Kirk Fox, a former University of Idaho faculty member and director of the school. Kirk Fox will speak at 5 p.m. today at the Borah Theater in the Bruce M. Pitman Center, 709 Deakin Ave., in Moscow. She retired from the dean of the College of Human Ecology at the University of Georgia in 2021.
Kirk Fox will discuss how the topic of family and consumer sciences has evolved over the years and why it is still important. This is the first distinguished speaker event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Saturday, there will be a tailgate party starting at 10 a.m. from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the Niccolls Building, 875 Campus Drive, Moscow. There will be food and live music from The Chelseas. Hays Hall and the Niccolls Building will be open for the public. McGuire said they would also have the school’s historic costume collection available for the public to see.
Kali Nelson can be reached at knelson@dnews.com.
