Kittrell, Flemmie (1904–1980)

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Kittrell, Flemmie (1904–1980)

African-American educator and nutritionist. Born Flemmie Pansy Kittrell on December 25, 1904, in Henderson, North Carolina; died on October 3, 1980, in Washington, D.C.; seventh of nine children and youngest daughter of James Lee Kittrell and Alice (Mills) Kittrell; attended public school in Vance County, North Carolina; Hampton Institute, B.S., 1928; Cornell University, M.A., 1930, Ph.D., 1938; never married; no children.

Devoting her career to improving family welfare around the world, Flemmie Kittrell headed up the home economics department at Howard University for nearly 30 years, during which time she also conducted studies of nutrition problems in Liberia and India and established training programs in nutrition and child care for women in India and Zaire (now Republic of Congo).

One of nine children of parents of Cherokee Indian and African-American heritage, Kittrell was born in Henderson, North Carolina, in 1904, and grew up in a happy and supportive environment that contributed to her educational achievements in high school and later at the Hampton Institute in Virginia, where she received her B.S. degree in 1928. Few black women had the wherewithal to attend graduate school during the 1920s, but with the encouragement of her family and her professors at Hampton, she enrolled at Cornell University. Kittrell earned an M.A. in 1930 and a Ph.D. in 1938, both with honors.

Kittrell had spent a year teaching at Bennett College in Greensboro before entering Cornell, and she returned to teach at that institution briefly before accepting a position at her alma mater, Hampton Institute, to serve as the director of the home economics division and dean of women. In 1944, she was selected to head the home economics department at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she immediately set out to implement a more comprehensive curriculum and to establish her field on sound scientific footing. In 1947, under the auspices of the Department of State, she instituted a research project in Liberia to study the country's living conditions and nutrition. Her findings confirmed that 90% of the population suffered from "hidden hunger" caused by a diet consisting mostly of rice and cassava. In a report to the Liberian government, she recommended expansion of the fishing industry and refinement of the agricultural industry to help balance nutritional intake.

In 1950, under a Fulbright exchange program, Kittrell assisted India's Baroda University in establishing a Home Economics College as well as a nutritional research program. In 1952, she traveled to the nation of Zaire to help organize the Congo Polytechnic Institute's School of Home Economics. Part of her goal in that developing country was to convince Congolese men that higher education for women would improve home life. This she achieved with persistence and diplomacy. In 1953, under the auspices of the Agency for International Development, she returned to India to conduct seminars in nutrition, teach courses in meal planning, and give home economics demonstrations. Kittrell's worldwide efforts took her to Japan, Hawaii, and West Africa in 1957, to West and Central Africa in 1959, and to Guinea in 1961.

At Howard University, Kittrell continued to work for improvement and expansion of the home economics program. For almost 15 years, she led the campaign for new facilities, finally obtaining approval for the construction of the School for Human Ecology, which was dedicated in 1963. The four-story building, in addition to providing classrooms, study centers, and laboratories, housed a nursery for the college's preschool program. Within its walls, the nation's Head Start program was conceived and tested.

Over her long career, Flemmie Kittrell received numerous honors and awards, including the Scroll of Honor from the National Council of Negro Women in 1961 and the establishment of a scholarship in her honor by the American Home Economics Association in 1974. Kittrell, who retired from Howard University in 1972, at age 73, continued to travel and lecture until two years before her death in 1980.