East Tennessee State Teachers College. Home Management House
Biography
The Home Management House was one of three dwellings located on 18 acres of property purchased by the State Teachers College, Johnson City in 1931 from the Lyle family. The house, first opened in the fall of 1933, was then known as the Home Economics Practice House. The January 13, 1934 issue of The Chalk Line provides the first reference to the house as the Home Management House.
The house, originally located in an area between Lamb Hall and Hutcheson Hall, was moved in 1961 to make way for the construction of Lamb Hall. The house was relocated to an area behind Wilson-Wallis Hall. During the 1961-62 academic year the building was not available for use, as a basement was added to the house, together with new electrical wiring. Two wings were added to the building in 1963. The building reopened for use in 1963. In the fall of 1985, the building was renamed the Ada Hornsby Earnest Home Management House, in honor of the long-time Professor (1912-55) and chair of the Home Economics Department.
The house has been used for many purposes, among them activities of the Home Economics Club. For many years the house was used by resident students in the "Home Management House" course. Students lived in the house and received credit for putting into practice the principles of home economics. For a period of time, including the late 1930s and the 1940s, students cared for a "resident baby." The course became known as the "Management Practicum" in 1980 and continued under that name until it was dropped by the Department of Applied Human Sciences in 1993.
As of this writing the office of the dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology is contained in Earnest House. The house also contains other university offices.
The Home Economics Department was one of the original departments at the East Tennessee State Normal School. From the founding of the school in 1911, until 1917 the department was known as "Domestic Science." In 1917 it changed its name to Home Economics. Much later, in June 1992, the department became known as the Department of Applied Human Sciences.
The department has had the following chairpersons: Ada Hornsby Earnest, a 1912 graduate of the normal school, who became chair in 1919 and remained in that position until her retirement in 1955; Harryet S. Blackwell (1955-56); Jana Jones (1956-57); Rachel Eatherly (1957-58); Vivian Rockwood (1958-76); Sue Mays (1976-82); and Amelia Brown (1982- ).
