Elizabeth Eckhardt May Explained
Elizabeth Eckhardt May (February 18, 1899 – October 24, 1996) was an American home economist, educator, and college administrator. She was dean of the School of Home Economics at the University of Connecticut from 1952 to 1964, and before that academic dean of Hood College in Maryland. Her research and writing involved rehabilitation and work supports for disabled women.
Early life and education
Elizabeth Marie Eckhardt was born in Folsom, New Jersey, one of the eleven children of Jacob Eckhardt and Rosa Measley Eckhardt.[1] She attended Folsom School and graduated from Hammonton High School.[2] She trained as a teacher at the Trenton State Normal School, as did three of her sisters.[3] She earned a bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree in education (Ed.D.) from Columbia University.
One of her sisters was Gertrude Eckhardt, an American public health nurse who worked in Germany with the US military government after World War II.[4] [5] Their brother Jack L. Eckhardt was the longtime mayor of Folsom.[6] [7]
Career
May was a demonstration agent and state specialist with the West Virginia University Agricultural Extension Service. She was executive secretary of the Oglebay Institute, and of the White House Conference on Children in Democracy. She taught at the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan.[8]
In 1943, May became the academic dean at Hood College in Maryland.[9] [10] She became dean of the School of Home Economics at the University of Connecticut in 1952, and retired from Connecticut in 1964. She was a member of the President's Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped.[11] Her research involved studies of physically disabled women's domestic work, including childcare, and rehabilitation approaches aimed at that group.[12] "It is not a matter of gadgets," she said in a 1962 conference paper. "It is a matter of management."[13]
Publications
- "Whom to Train for Recreational Leadership" (1941)[14]
- "College Women and National Service" (1952)[15]
- "Rehabilitation Views and Previews" (1956)[16]
- "Expanding the Services of the Home Economist in Rehabilitation" (1960)[17]
- "Work Simplification in the Area of Child Care for Physically Handicapped Women" (1961)[18]
- "Work Simplification in Child Care: Teaching Materials for the Rehabilitation of Physically Handicapped Homemakers" (1962)[19]
- Homemaking for the Handicapped (1966, with Neva R. Waggoner and Eleanor Boettke Hotte, with photographs by Jerauld Manter)[20]
- Independent Living for the Handicapped and Elderly (1974, with Neva R. Waggoner and Eleanor Boettke Hotte)[21]
Personal life
Elizabeth Eckhardt married architect and magazine editor Charles C. May. They had a daughter, Margaret Gertrude May Kessel.[22] Her husband died in 1937,[23] and she died in 1996, at the age of 97, in Braddock Heights, Maryland.[24] There is a large collection of her papers at the University of Connecticut Library.[25]
Notes and References
- News: 1996-10-29 . Elizabeth Eckhardt May (obituary) . 50 . Hartford Courant . 2023-05-03 . Newspapers.com.
- https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-journal-elizabeth-eckhardt-may/124304322/ "Personals"
- News: 1947-05-23 . Mrs. Kramer Honored . 12 . Courier-Post . 2023-05-03 . Newspapers.com.
- News: 1990-04-24 . Gertrude Eckhardt (obituary) . 12 . Press of Atlantic City . 2023-05-03 . Newspapers.com.
- Setzler . Lorraine . 1945 . Nursing and Nursing Education in Germany . The American Journal of Nursing . 45 . 12 . 993–995 . 10.2307/3416997 . 3416997 . 21006542 . 0002-936X.
- News: Carroll . Maurice . 1975-12-07 . Native of Folsom Recalls A Quiet Place With a Past . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-05-03 . 0362-4331.
- Web site: Donio . Gabriel . 2020-12-11 . Decorated homes make Christmas memories . 2023-05-03 . Hammonton Gazette . en.
- News: 1952-01-24 . Former West Virginian Speaker for Service Club 'Get-Together' . 10 . The Charleston Daily Mail . 2023-05-03 . Newspapers.com.
- News: May 22, 1947 . Class Hears Dean May . 3 . The Washington Post . May 2, 2023 . Internet Archive.
- News: 1950-05-17 . Hood Groups Hold Picnic and Banquet . 13 . The News . 2023-05-03 . Newspapers.com.
- July–August 1966 . Annual Meeting Highlights . Performance: The Story of the Handicapped . 17 . 1–2 . 3.
- Book: Puaca, Laura Micheletti . https://books.google.com/books?id=VsjDDQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Elizabeth+Eckhardt+May%22&pg=PA89 . Disabling Domesticity . 2016-12-20 . Springer . 978-1-137-48769-8 . Rembis . Michael . 89 . en . The Largest Occupational Group of all the Disabled: Homemakers with Disabilities and Vocational Rehabilitation in Postwar America.
- News: Tolchin . Martin . 1962-08-25 . Study Can Aid The Housewife With Handicap . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-05-03 . 0362-4331.
- May . Elizabeth Eckhardt . 1941-09-01 . Whom to Train for Recreational Leadership . The Journal of Health and Physical Education . 12 . 7 . 397–440 . 10.1080/23267240.1941.10622842.
- May . Elizabeth Eckhardt . 1952-01-01 . College Women and National Service . The Journal of Higher Education . 23 . 1 . 13–17 . 10.1080/00221546.1952.11777920 . 0022-1546.
- May . Elizabeth Eckhardt . 1956-11-01 . Rehabilitation Views and Previews1 . Journal of the American Dietetic Association . en . 32 . 11 . 1049–1053 . 10.1016/S0002-8223(21)16353-9 . 13366597 . 44413925 . 0002-8223.
- May, Elizabeth Eckhardt. "Expanding the Services of the Home Economist in Rehabilitation." Journal of Home Economics 52, no. 9 (1960): 732-733.
- Book: May, Elizabeth Eckhardt . Work Simplification in the Area of Child Care for Physically Handicapped Women: Final Report, June 15,1955-December 31, 1960 ; Special Project No. 37, the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, Department of Health, Education and Welfare . 1961 . School of Home Economics, University of Connecticut . en.
- Book: May, Elizabeth Eckhardt . Work Simplification in Child Care: Teaching Materials for the Rehabilitation of Physically Handicapped Homemakers . 1962 . University of Connecticut, School of Home Economics . en.
- Book: May . Elizabeth Eckhardt . Homemaking for the Handicapped: A Resource Book in Home Management for the Physically Handicapped and Their Families and for Professional Personnel Concerned with Rehabilitation . Waggoner . Neva R. . Hotte . Eleanor Boettke . 1966 . Dodd, Mead . en.
- Book: May . Elizabeth Eckhardt . Independent Living for the Handicapped and the Elderly . Waggoner . Neva R. . Hotte . Eleanor Boettke . 1974 . Houghton Mifflin . 978-0-395-18108-9 . en.
- News: 1960-06-26 . Miss Margaret May Wed to Q. C. Kessel . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-05-03 . 0362-4331.
- News: 1937-09-11 . Charles C. May, 55, Architect, is Dead; Designer of Many Homes in the Metropolitan Area; Was Active in Town Planning . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-05-03 . 0362-4331.
- News: 1996-10-28 . Elizabeth May; was UConn dean . 42 . Hartford Courant . 2023-05-03 . Newspapers.com.
- Web site: Collection: Elizabeth E. May Papers . 2023-05-03 . UConn Archives & Special Collections ArchivesSpace.