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A History of the University of Missouri-Columbia
Department of Textile and Apparel Management

Note to Researcher: The College of Human Environmental Sciences was disbanded in 2021.

According to the HES web page (https://hes.missouri.edu/) from the summer of 2021:

"On February 8, 2021, the University of Missouri announced the restructuring of the College of Human Environmental Sciences. On March 3, 2021, the University announced the new college homes of the five academic units in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. The transition of departmental faculty, staff, and students to new academic homes occurred on July 1, 2021.

Departments:

• The Department of Architectural Studies is now administered by the College of Arts and Science. The department office is still physically located at 137 Stanley Hall.
• The Department of Textile and Apparel Management is now administered by the College of Arts and Science. The department office is still physically located in 137 Stanley Hall.
• The Department of Human Development and Family Science joined the College of Education & Human Development. The department office is physically located in 102 Gwynn Hall.
• The Department of Personal Financial Planning (PFP) joined the Division of Applied Social Sciences within the College of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources (CAFNR). The department is currently located in 239 Stanley Hall but will move to Mumford Hall in August.
• Faculty in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology currently housed in HES moved into CAFNR in the newly formed Division of Food, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences. The department is still physically located in 204 Gwynn Hall.
• Extension faculty currently in PFP, along with the Center for Financial and Economic Education, joined the Marketing Department in the Trulaske College of Business, while Extension faculty in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology joined various academic units within the School of Health Professions.

• Extension faculty and staff in HES Youth and Family Extension will be moving to Gentry Hall in August."

The information about the College of Human Environmental Sciences found on the remainder of this page was originally compiled in 1999.

History

A textiles and clothing specialty was one of the earliest offered by the University of Missouri-Columbia's Home Economics department. In the early 1900s, courses in textiles and dressmaking were offered and by the early 1930s a four-year curriculum for textile and clothing specialists had been established. Early research projects in the textile specialty included studies of weighted silk, the wearing qualities of hosiery, and the hygiene of women's underwear. When the second wing of Gwynn Hall was completed in 1935, a conditioning room was included for textile research and by the 1950s the textile and clothing major included emphases in costume design, fashion merchandising, buying, and testing, and textile research.

Textiles and Clothing was established as a section when Home Economics became a school in 1960. When the school became a college in 1973 and the section became a department, the name was changed to Clothing and Textiles. In 1982, Clothing and Textiles was targeted for possible elimination as part of a proposal for sweeping cuts in academic programs at UMC; this proposal was eventually rejected by the Board of Curators. By the mid-1980s the program had grown to include business options in apparel merchandising and marketing, textile and apparel economics, and commercial and theater apparel design; advanced studies options in historical or behavior studies in dress or textile science; and information/service options in clothing and textiles extension or journalism. In 1987 the department changed its name to Textile and Apparel Management to reflect the terminology used in the industrial sector of the discipline. The department currently offers undergraduate emphases in apparel marketing and merchandising, international studies in textile and apparel management, and apparel manufacturing and management.

Leadership

Note to Researcher: Information on current administrators in the Department of Textile and Apparel Management can be found at the following URL:

• 1960-1966 Adella Ginter, Head
• 1967-1970 MaryLou Rosencranz, Head
• 1970-1980 Elinor R. Nugent, Chair
• 1981-present Kitty G. Dickerson, Chair

Sources: University General Catalogs (C:0/51/1/); School of Home Economics Catalogs and Bulletins (C:5/12/1); HES Dean's Office - M. Mangel HE History Records (C:5/1/NP)

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