The Wisconsin Home Demonstration Council (WHDC) was founded in 1940, reflecting the interests of the National Home Demonstration Council in educating women in the areas of leadership and home and community life. Interest in developing a state council was first acknowledged in 1935, when eight Wisconsin homemakers attended the National Home Demonstration Council meeting in Columbus, Ohio. A report of this meeting was given by Mrs. Oscar Conrad at the Wisconsin Farm and Home Week. Interest continued to grow, and in 1939, a meeting was called by the state leader of the Home Economics Extension of the University of Wisconsin at the Farm and Home Week to discuss the formation of a state council. In June 1939, the first meeting of the WHDC advisory committee was held and officers were elected, with Mrs. Albert Erickson as the first president.
Membership in the state council is held by the county. Individuals become members of home demonstration clubs in their communities, and a county becomes eligible to join the state council when a requisite number of individuals within the county have joined local clubs. The first WHDC executive board meeting was held January 30, 1940, with 21 county representatives in attendance. Before long, membership included every county in the state, and in 1953 the cumbersome county representation system was changed to a district system. The counties were grouped into seven districts and the executive board was comprised of the state council president and the district chairmen.
At the local club level, meetings are conducted by the local club leader, who is trained by the county president and the extension agents. Demonstrations, discussions, and films are used to educate homemakers in various aspects of nutrition, clothing, home furnishings, money management, and home and community life. The hierarchy of local club, county president, district chairmen, and state council provides a means of communication between all levels within the state and among states. The WHDC served as coordinating administrative unit, providing information to extension agents and representatives at various levels. The state council also determined which issues on which to provide information. While the state council suggested programs and workshops, there has always been an emphasis on serving the local community and local needs.
The WHDC was primarily directed toward rural women, with an important outreach function provided by booths at county and state fairs. Since the council was founded at the end of the Depression and beginning of World War II, most extension services in home economics and family living concerned food conservation, money saving practices, health, and the sale of war bonds. In the 1950s, extension work emphasized applications of new technology to the home. Child development, family relations, and food and nutrition were other important topics. As a means of promoting college education in home economics, the WHDC began sponsoring scholarships to the University of Wisconsin for young women interested in home economics.
During the 1960s, the WHDC realized that urban and working women also needed information on home economics and family living. To reflect this change in policy and new member groups, a new constitution was adopted in 1961 and the WHDCs name was changed to the Wisconsin Extension Homemakers Council (WEHC). New outreach methods were adopted. During the 1960s and 1970s, extension services made greater use of radio and television to reach more women, as well as special groups with special information needs.
