Emma P. (Emma Pike) Ewing

Born in Broome County, New York, in 1838, Emma Pike Ewing became one of the best-known American writers and teachers on cooking and domestic economy in the late 19th century. After her marriage to W. P. Ewing in 1863, she built a reputation as a skilled cook and instructor at a time when formal cooking education was still rare.

Ewing went on to hold important teaching roles, including work with the Chautauqua Assembly Cooking School, Iowa Agricultural College, and the Chicago Training School of Cookery. She was part of an early movement that treated housekeeping and cookery as subjects that could be taught clearly and systematically, especially to women seeking practical education.

She also wrote a number of cookbooks and manuals, including Cooking and Castle-Building, Soup and Soup Making, Salad and Salad Making, and A Text-book of Cookery. Published between the 1880s and 1890s, her books reflect a practical, instructional style that helped shape the growing field of domestic science before her death in 1917.