Julianne Wise Phinney

Title: Julianne Wise Phinney
LC Subject: Universities and colleges--Faculty Portraits Home economics
Creator: Hise Studio
Description: Julianne Wise was a home demonstration agent in Union County, and later an Assistant Professor in Household Administration from 1943 to 1952. She was born in 1913 in Jerome, Idaho. She was single when she came to OSC. She attended University of Idaho and received her Bachelor of Science in Home Economics from OSC in 1941. She then went on to earn her Master of Science from OSC in 1943, in Household Administration and Home Economics Education. Her thesis was titled “The Development of a Rating Scale for Girls Living.” Before applying to OSC, she was an elementary school teacher in Idaho for five years. She also worked as an instructor in home economics for two years at West Virginia University. There, she helped remodel an old house into a home management/nursery house. When OSC offered her a position, West Virginia University offered her a raise and an assistant professorship. But, since Wise was a “Western girl,” she chose to come to OSC at a yearly salary slightly lower than what West Virginia had offered. She succeeded Miss Marjorie Elleworth, who left to work as a dietitian in an army hospital. In 1945, there was confusion as to the appointment of Wise. Upon apparent recommendation of Dean Milam, Wise was appointed Assistant Professor in Household Administration. At the same time, she was also approved to continue her position as Union County Home Demonstration Agent. Both these positions were announced at the same time to the State Board of Higher Education, resulting in a “somewhat confused press announcement [indicating she] had been appointed to both positions.” In 1949, Wise, who lived in a House Management House at the time, found her workload too burdensome to continue living there. She applied for sabbatical leave, which was initially granted, although it was later rescinded in favor of having her continue to supervise the Home Management House, instructing her classes as usual, and helping “modernize” two Home Economics units, while helping plan the third unit of the Home Economics building. The next year, she applied for sabbatical leave again, to do research in the field of functional housing. She had also applied for a Fulbright award and for “work of a service nature” abroad. If neither application was accepted, she hoped to study high school curricula in housing and house management. Between 1949 and 1950, Wise appeared to have been married, and taken the surname Phinney. In 1952, she resigned from OSC to “go with her husband to his place of employment.” She resigned at at a yearly salary of $4400. She was a member of Omicron Nu, the National Home Economics Association, and the American Association of University Women.
Work Type: photographic prints photographs black-and-white photographs
Date: 1947
Identifier: P092:0462
Rights: In Copyright
Local Collection Name: President's Office Photographs, 1923-1998 (P 092)
Type: Image
Format: image/tiff
Set: OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center Historical Images of Oregon State University
Primary Set: OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center
Institution: Oregon State University