Marlatt, Abby L. (1869–1943)

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Marlatt, Abby L. (1869–1943)

American home economist. Born Abby Lillian Marlatt on Mar 7, 1869, in Manhattan, Kansas; died June 23, 1943, in Madison, WI; only dau. and youngest of 5 children of Rev. Washington Marlatt (Methodist minister and pioneer settler in Kansas) and Julia Ann (Bailey) Marlatt; Kansas State Agricultural College, BS, 1888, MS in chemistry, 1890; also attended Brown University.

Organized department of domestic economy at Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) and served as professor there (until 1894); organized department of home economics at Manual Training (later Technical) High School (Providence, RI); served as chair (1903) and vice president (1907) of Lake Placid Conference on Home Economics; organized courses in home economics at University of Wisconsin (1909) and served as director of home economics there for 30 years; served as vice-president of American Home Economics Association (1912–18). The high academic standards she set for home economics students at University of Wisconsin were then followed by many US schools.

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