author
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
A pioneering correspondence school from Scranton, Pennsylvania, it helped bring sewing, cooking, dressmaking, and other home-economics lessons to hundreds of thousands of women in the early 20th century. Its books and courses capture a vivid moment when domestic skills were taught as both practical knowledge and professional training.
5 Audiobooks
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery. Volume 4: Salads and Sandwiches; Cold and Frozen Desserts; Cakes, Cookies and Puddings; Pastries and Pies
by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery. Volume 1: Essentials of Cookery; Cereals; Bread; Hot Breads
by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery. Volume 2: Milk, Butter and Cheese; Eggs; Vegetables
by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery. Volume 5: Fruit and Fruit Desserts; Canning and Drying; Jelly Making, Preserving and Pickling; Confections; Beverages; the Planning of Meals
by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery. Volume 3: Soup; Meat; Poultry and Game; Fish and Shell Fish
by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
About the author
Founded in 1916 by Mary Brooks Picken, this organization was created as a division focused on teaching women through home study and classroom instruction. Based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, it offered courses in dressmaking, millinery, cooking, fashion design, beauty, and homemaking, making specialized instruction more accessible to women who could not attend traditional schools.
The institute became especially well known for its correspondence model and for publishing detailed instructional books, including cookery and sewing manuals that are still collected and read today. Archival records describe it as combining mailed lessons with practical training, and later accounts note that it grew into one of the largest long-distance educational institutions aimed at women during its peak years.
Because the name refers to an institution rather than a single person, there is no separate author portrait for it. The most closely connected public figure is Mary Brooks Picken, a widely recognized expert on sewing, textiles, and fashion education whose leadership helped define the institute's style and influence.