Beulah Blackmore Explained

Beulah Blackmore
Birth Date:	April 6, 1886
Birth Place:	Vassar, Michigan, United States
Death Place:	Ithaca, New York, United States
Occupation:	Home economist, college professor

Beulah Blackmore (April 6, 1886 – July 29, 1967) was an American home economist on the faculty of Cornell University from 1915 to 1951, and head of the New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell University's Textiles and Clothing department from 1925 to 1951.

Early life and education

Blackmore was born in Vassar, Michigan, the daughter of Oliver Blackmore and Anna Blackmore. Her brother, John James Blackmore, was a professional musician.^{[1] [2]} She attended high school in Tuscola County,^[3] and graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1917.^[4] Later she completed graduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[5]

Career

Blackmore taught in the home economics department at Cornell University beginning in 1915,^{[6] [7]} including such courses as "Elements of Design", "Clothing and Handwork", and "Elementary Millinery". She became a full professor in 1923, and served as head of the textiles and clothing program from 1925 until her retirement in 1951.^[8] She oversaw the creation of the school's costume shop, home economics courses for male students, a collection of historical textiles and international garments,^{[9] [10]} and a diverse research program on clothing and fabric. She also donated her own collection of rare objects and books on these subjects to the college.^[11]

Blackmore taught community classes,^{[12] [13]} and gave interviews and lectures on consumer advice.^{[14] [15] [16]}

Publications

Blackmore wrote textbook chapters and technical reports; she also wrote articles on home economics topics for The Delineator magazine in the 1920s.^{[17] [18] [19]}

• "The Making of Clothing" and "Millinery" (1919, textbook chapters)^[20]
• "Watch Your Step in the Dining-Room" (1922, with Flora Rose)^[21]
• "A Clothing Project" (1922)^[22]
• "How Will You Pack When You Go Away?" (1924)
• "Know Your Mattress" and "Know Your Boxspring" (1924)
• "Make Clothes Closets Convenient" (1925)
• "Selecting Your Bedcovers" (1925)^[23]
• "The Clothes We Wear" (1928)^[24]
• "Clothing purchased by farm families in Tompkins County, New York, 1927–28" (1934)^[25]

Personal life

Blackmore lived with fellow home economist Helen Canon in Ithaca, New York for more than thirty years.^{[26] [27]} Canon died in 1954.^{[28] [29]} Blackmore died at home in 1967, at the age of 81.^[30]

External links

• Xepoleas, L. M. & Hayflick, E., (2022) “Engaging Communities, Empowering Students: Fostering Cross-Cultural Connections Through Dress, 1936–1958”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 79(1). A conference paper on Blackmore's work with international students at Cornell
• The Cornell Fashion and Textile Collection website, with link to online catalogue database
• Ringo, Fredonia Jane. Draperies (A. W. Shaw Company 1925); the linked volume at Google Books has Beulah Blackmore's name on the inside cover, as it was donated to Cornell from her personal library

Notes and References

1. News: 1910-08-21 . Untitled society item . 16 . The Tacoma Daily Ledger . 2023-06-26 . Newspapers.com.
2. News: 1906-09-22 . In Music Circles . 18 . The News Tribune . 2023-06-26 . Newspapers.com.
3. Tuscola High School, The Senior Echo (1904 yearbook): 30.
4. Cornell University, "The Cornellian" (1927 yearbook): 42.
5. Web site: Faculty Biographies: Beulah Blackmore. 2023-06-25 . What Was Home Economics? Cornell University.
6. Cornell University, The Cornellian (1927 yearbook): 42.
7. Cornell's Sesquicentennial: An Exhibition of Campus Style . Denise Nicole . Green . Catwalk: The Journal of Fashion, Beauty and Style . 5 . 1 . 2016 . 43–62 . Academia.edu.
8. News: 1951-08-29 . Prof. Blackmore, at Cornell 36 Years, to Retire Sept. 1 . 4 . The Ithaca Journal . 2023-06-26 . Newspapers.com.
9. Web site: June 15, 2023 . Historic caftan augments diverse fashion collection . 2023-06-26 . Mirage News.
10. Xepoleas . Lynda May . Hayflick . Emily . 2022-06-01 . Curating costumes from many lands: Addressing the colonial gaze in two university dress collections through digital curation . Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty . en . 13 . Curatorial Reflections . 21–43 . 10.1386/csfb_00036_1 . 250940281 . 2040-4417.
11. Rollins, Mabel, Elsie McMurry, and Margaret Humphrey, "Beulah Blackmore (April 6, 1886 – July 29, 1967)" Cornell University Faculty Memorial Statement.
12. News: 1940-04-24 . Home Bureau Women Model Dresses Made at Home in Clothing Project . 12 . Star-Gazette . 2023-06-26 . Newspapers.com.
13. News: 1932-09-28 . Childrens Apparel Remodeling Being Taught Home Bureau . 3 . The Ithaca Journal . 2023-06-26 . Newspapers.com.
14. February 1928 . Gives Advance News on Spring Fashions . The Niagara County Farm and Home Bureau News . 15 . 6 . 4.
15. News: 1929-02-16 . Clothing Costs Topic of Beulah Blackmore . 7 . The Ithaca Journal . 2023-06-26 . Newspapers.com.
16. News: 1942-11-18 . War Changes Source, Use of Textiles . 23 . The Buffalo News . 2023-06-26 . Newspapers.com.
17. Blackmore . Beulah . September–October 1924 . "Know Your Mattress" and . Know Your Boxspring . The Delineator . 46 (Mattress) and 50 (Boxspring) . Internet Archive.
18. Blackmore . Beulah . August 1924 . How Will You Pack When You Go Away? . The Delineator . 46 . Internet Archive.
19. Blackmore . Beulah . September 1925 . Make Clothes Closets Convenient . The Delineator . 42.
20. Book: Blackmore, Beulah . https://books.google.com/books?id=dtREAAAAIAAJ&dq=Beulah+Blackmore&pg=PA330 . A Manual of Home-making . 1919 . Macmillan . and "Millinery" . Van Rensselaer . Martha . 330–392 (The Making of Clothing); 393–406 (Millinery) . en . The Making of Clothing.
21. Rose . Flora . Blackmore . Beatrice . June 1922 . Watch Your Step in the Dining-Room . The Delineator . 46.
22. Blackmore . Beulah . September 1922 . A Clothing Project . The Journal of Home Economics . 14 . 430–432.
23. Blackmore . Beulah . October 1925 . Selecting Your Bedcovers . The Delineator . 53 . Internet Archive.
24. Blackmore, Beulah. "The Clothes We Wear." New York State Education 15 (1928): 552–558.
25. Blackmore, Beulah. "Clothing purchased by farm families in Tompkins County, New York, 1927–1928." (1934).
26. Elias, Megan. "'Model Mamas': The Domestic Partnership of Home Economics Pioneers Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer" Journal of the History of Sexuality 15(1)(January 2006): 66, note 3.
27. The two women lived together by 1920; Blackmore was listed as Canon's "partner" in the 1930 federal census, and Canon was listed as Blackmore's "partner" in the 1940 and 1950 federal censuses; United States Federal Census returns for 1930, 1940 and 1950, via Ancestry.
28. News: 1954-07-09 . Helen Canon, Professor Emeritus, Dies . 5 . The Ithaca Journal . 2023-06-26 . Newspapers.com.
29. News: 1954-07-10 . Tributes Paid Prof. Canon . 4 . The Ithaca Journal . 2023-06-26 . Newspapers.com.
30. News: 1967-07-31 . Obituary for Beulah Blackmore . 3 . The Ithaca Journal . 2023-06-26 . Newspapers.com.