A Little White Frame House at the Fair: The Rumford Kitchen

Perhaps it is because she clashed with Bertha Palmer. Or maybe it is because there was no famous architect or artist associated with the little exhibit. But, Ellen Swallow Richard's Rumford Kitchen, where nutritious 30 cent meals were served to fairgoers, received little mention during the Columbian Exposition or since. Few reference books even footnote it, and you would be hard-pressed to find it on a Fair map.


I became aware of Ellen Richards and the Rumford Kitchen when I stumbled on a blog by Joyce Beery Miles appropriately titled, "Ellen." Ellen Richards (1842-1911) was the first woman to be awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from MIT. She dedicated her life to applying the "principles of chemistry to the science of cooking" emphasizing nutrition particularly for the working-class. Jane Addams applauded her efforts and Ellen did spend some time at Hull House converting many to her ideas on the "new domestic science."

Joyce has graciously allowed me to reprint her post on Ellen Richards and the Fair, and I have included a list of sites where you can find some additional information.

Ellen Swallow Richards was determined to have a part in the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893. She was invited to be a part of the Women’s Building and cook in a demonstration kitchen. However, she said she failed to see that any of her work was strictly women’s work and she wanted no part of it. After attempts to locate in the Liberal Arts Building failed because of the possible fire hazards, she was determined to construct her own building. This was a small frame, white building with barely room to seat 30 people. She decided to call this the Rumford Kitchen after Massachusetts native Benjamin Thompson later called Count Rumford. He was the first to label nutrition a science in the early 1800s.
The kitchen was open for all to view and the tables had the menu choices with nutrient values for each food item. The walls were lined with posters filled with the latest nutritional information. Since she had been bounced around before she established her own building, she was not operating the full length of the fair, but only for a few months. Miraculously, they were able to feed over 10,000 during this short time. Unfortunately, there was nothing about her kitchen in any advanced fair publicity and little written about it even as an historical event after the fair. What did survive, however, were the many handouts called Rumford Kitchen pamphlets. Patrons of the kitchen were invited to take these with nutritional information.

Recommended reading:
Ellen Swallow Richards and the Rumford Kitchen (Purdue University)
The Rumford Kitchen:Exhibit at World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 (MIT)
Ellen Richards (blog)
Ellen Swallow Richards
Ellen Swallow Richards and the Progressive women's reform movement
The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning By Ellen Henrietta Richards, Sophronia Maria Elliott (1910; originally published 1881)