November 3, 1966
THE TWIG
Page Three
Ellen Brewer House Is Lovely Setting for Home Management Training
HOME ECONOMICS MAJORS LEARN IN "DREAM HOUSE
By PATTY LEWIS
Aspiring young homemakers find
the perfect situation for learning all
that is involved in keeping house
and managing a home in the Ellen
Brewer House.
What home economics majors of
the past called a “Dream House”
stands south of Hunter Hall; it
chaoged from a dream to a reality
because of the generosity of one
man, Talcott Wait Brewer, and the
dedication and vision of one
woman, Ellen Brewer.
The purpose of the house is to
provide a place where home eco
nomics majors can have resident
home management training. Home
economics majors elect to take the
course, which consists of living in
the home management house for
four weeks, for two hours of credit.
For many years this course was
conducted m the "home manage
ment apartment” which consisted of
three suites in Vann Hall. But the
college grew until it finally had to
take back this dormitory spacc, and
a house on Hillsboro Street was
rented for the homeless homemak
ers. Miss Ellen Brewer, chairman of
the home economics department
from 1922 to 1966, recalls how in
convenient this arrangement was for
Meredith students since the house
was located near Pullen Memorial
Church. “The girls sometimes had
a car, but most of the time they rode
the bus to classes,” commented Miss
The home management house’s efficient kitchen helps make cooking fuo for Jan
Haywood and Retta Clements.
Meredith Girls Take Courses at State,
Find Experiences Different, Worthwhile
By BETH KING
After twelve years of co-educa
tion, Meredith students, having once
entered these hallowed halls, seldom
venture back into a classroom of
men. Summer schools sometimes af
ford such an opportunity, and a few
brave students register for courses
at North Carolina State University.
Jan McCrary, a senior math
major, related one of her experi
ences in a history of mathematics
course at State last spring. Her
professor obviously believed in the
inferiority of women. He compared
the female to the even integers
which can easily be torn apart;
however, the male was regarded as
strong like the odd integersl
On the other hand students tak
ing the programming course at State
found their professor very inter
ested and concerned about their
progress. A man from Chapel Hill
who audited the course transported
the girls back and forth to class
and even tutored them in their as
signments.
Macki Rudisill, a senior biology
major and one of three girls out of
sixty students in an animal hus>
bandry class, was appalled when the
boys regularly went to sleep during
a class if the lecture became boring.
“At least,” she said, “we try to give
the appearance of being awake.”
After nervously asking a ques
tion for the first time, Macki says
that she never hesitated again.
Are the boys friendly? Trish
Wynn answers, “Sometimes.” “They
are not £is competitive as Meredith’s
math majors. They just don’t worry
over grades like we do,” she said.
Differences in class procedures
are natural. For example, assig
ments are given for every class, but
(CoDtioued on page 4)
Brewer. I
Mr. Talcott Brewer heard about
the dilemma and determined that I
what Meredith really needed was a I
home management house which
would be a real part of the campus.
Mr. Brewer and his family have for
many years been closely identified
with Meredith College, his father
Samuel W. Brewer having been a
trustee and his uncle Dr. Charles
Edward Brewer having been presi
dent of the college from 1915-1939.
He made the decision himself, and
his announcement that he would
give such a house to Meredith came
as a “complete surprise.”
This generous man gave money
for the house and its furnishings
and watched with interest as the
house was planned, constructed,
and furnished as an ideal home.
Miss Brewer relates that no ex
pense was spared to make it exactly
as it ou^t to be.
The first girls moved in the com
pleted house in the spring semester
of 1959-60. The first contribution
of students to the house was help
ing to make the draperies. Girls
have been working ever since to
keep it as lovely as it was intended
to be.
Interesting Furniture
The Georgian-style house is taste
fully decorated and contains sev
eral pieces of fine furniture. In the
living room is an especially beauti
ful piece, a reproduction of a sec
retary in Tryon Palace. Ctf several
pieces of furniture given for the
house from the estate of Miss Lilly
Grandy, the most valuable is a bow-
front chest, also a part of the living
room. Much of the other furniture
was made b^ Craftique in Mebane,
North Carolina, and was selected
to suit the style of the house.
One of the most interesting fea
tures of the Ellen Brewer House is
largely a result of Miss Brewer’s
planning — the attention to details
which make the house worth seeing
by anyone who has visions of a
home someday. Roll-out cabinets
and storage bins in the kitchen,
shelves which open into the kitchen
or the den-breakfast room, ample
closet space, and cabinets for china,
crystal, and linen which utilize in a
unique manner the space under Ae
stairway help make the house a
model home.
From the Georgian exterior to the
panelled family room the Ellen
Brewer House is a home which de
serves Miss Brewer’s praise; she says
she “glows with pleasure" each time
she thinks of it.
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