Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911) was the first woman to graduate from MIT and then became the first female professor there (in Chemistry). She set up the Women’s Laboratory at MIT and greatly encouraged the young women who were arriving in greater numbers. Ellen was often seen gathering water samples to test at Jamaica Pond (which is at the end of the street). Ellen founded the Home Economics movement. She pushed for testing of water and food, teaching women about sanitary conditions and good nutrition. She created the “Rumford Kitchen” exhibit at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. They provided displays of sanitary kitchen conditions, nutritious foods and had pamphlets for visitors to take home. Ellen even coined the word ecology.
She made her home here with her husband Robert Richards, a fellow professor at MIT. They were both very active on the Board of the nearby Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts. They helped pilot home economics and vocational education programs that were adopted by the Boston Public Schools (and school systems across the country).
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“The prosperity of a nation depends upon the health and morals of its citizens; and the health and morals of a people depend mainly upon the food they eat and the homes they live in.”— ELLEN RICHARDS