Finding Aid for Frances Hoag Personal Papers, 1900-1975

Abstract

Frances Fern Hoag was born on July 8, 1884, to pioneer parents in northern Wisconsin. The family eventually made its home in Rice Lake, WI. Upon graduating high school in 1910, Miss Hoag decided to attend Stout Institute (now known as The University of Wisconsin-Stout) in Menomonie, WI. Miss Hoag’s father promptly gave her $0.50 when she left for college and told her she was on her own. Fern, as she preferred to be called, graduated from Stout in 1912 with a degree in Home Economics. She went on to teach Home Economics at the high school and college level in De Pere and Appleton, WI, the Horace Mann School in New York City and Carson College for Orphan Girls in Flourtown, PA. In 1919, Miss Hoag received a full scholarship at the Teachers College of Columbia University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in 1923 and eventually a Master’s in 1936. Both degrees were in Nutrition. In 1923, Miss Hoag was hired by the Philadelphia Dairy Council as a nutrition expert. She was involved with the council for the rest of her life. During her time with the council, she gave many presentations and speeches about eating healthy and nutrition. During this time soft drinks were becoming ever more present in schools across the United States. Miss Hoag fought against the soft drink industry when she became the first state supervisor of school lunches and nutrition for the Pennsylvania Department of Education in 1943. The industry fought back, eventually forcing Miss Hoag into early retirement in 1956. In her later years, Miss Hoag studied history, mythology, painting, and sculpture. She passed away September 9th, 1973 and is buried in Nora Cemetery in Rice Lake, WI.