The Ellen H. Richards Club at Washington State Normal School (now Eastern Washington University) was originally founded in 1919 in order to promote the study of Home Economics (originally called Domestic Arts at Eastern Washington University). The scrapbook contains photographs and clippings of club events, group portraits of the club, forms and pamphlets promoting health and nutrition, and certificates from the American Home Economics Association. The collection also contains a large group portrait for a home economics conference held in Cheney in 1934.
The scrapbook was created by Nancy Kate Broadnax Philips, a professor of Home Economics hired by Washington State Normal School in 1928. Philips, then known as Kate Broadnax, specialized in textiles, with a Master of Arts from the University of Washington. Philips took a leave of absence in 1940 to attend a teacher’s college at the University of Texas, then took another leave of absence from 1943-1945 to serve in the American Red Cross during World War II. Kate married Alfred Philips, a professor of mathematics at Eastern Washington, before retiring in 1956 as an Associate Professor of Textiles and Clothing.
