Beulah Blackmore
Beulah Blackmore, from the 1927 yearbook of Cornell University
Born	April 6, 1886 Vassar, Michigan, United States
Died	July 29, 1967(1967-07-29) (aged 81) Ithaca, New York, United States
Occupation(s)	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

Millinery laboratory in home economics building (now Comstock Hall), with Beulah Blackmore presiding. No – (3855512565)

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;^[17][18] she also wrote articles on home economics topics for The Delineator magazine in the 1920s.^{[19][20][21][22]}

• "The Making of Clothing" and "Millinery" (1919, textbook chapters)^[18]
• "Watch Your Step in the Dining-Room" (1922, with Flora Rose)^[19]
• "A Clothing Project" (1922)^[23]
• "How Will You Pack When You Go Away?" (1924)^[21]
• "Know Your Mattress" and "Know Your Boxspring" (1924)^[20]
• "Make Clothes Closets Convenient" (1925)^[22]
• "Selecting Your Bedcovers" (1925)^[24]
• "The Clothes We Wear" (1928)^[25]
• "Clothing purchased by farm families in Tompkins County, New York, 1927–28" (1934)^[17]

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]

References

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