The Betty Crocker Homemakers of Tomorrow, officially known as the Betty Crocker Search for the All-American Homemaker of Tomorrow, was a scholarship awarded to young women in the United States from the 1954-1955 school year[1] to 1977. In 1973, the test opened up to men, and the 1974 award was the first to be renamed the All-American Family Leader for Tomorrow.[2] The program, which was sponsored by General Mills and named for its Betty Crocker brand, awarded around $2.1 million in scholarships total.
History
The Betty Crocker Search for the All-American Homemaker of Tomorrow was established by General Mills in the early 1950s. The high school-aged contestants took a 50-minute, 150-question exam. A retrospective General Mills article says that the topics covered in the exam included "family relationships, spiritual and moral values, child development and care, health and safety, utilization and conservation, money management, recreation and use of leisure time, home care and beautification, community participation, and continuing education."[3] The test was designed by the Science Research Associates of Chicago.[4] In 1956, the test was administered to 256,534 students at 10,222 schools.[5] In 1971, a reported 650,000 women participated.[6]
The winners from each high school received a pin and an award, and then wrote essays. The program used the essays to choose one winner from each state to participate in a week-long national competition in Washington D.C., where a single woman was crowned the national Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow.[7]
One question was "Which of the following is a fundamental principle of good furniture arrangement?" and the answer choices were "Keep centers of visual interest away from the furniture", "Keep large pieces of furniture away from the walls", "Use accessories of a size contrasting with furniture", and the correct answer, which was "Do not mix very small and very large pieces of furniture".[8] Susan Marks, who published a book in 2005 called Finding Betty Crocker, wrote a blog post about the award, and comments on the post revealed that many of the winners simply good test-takers, not necessarily good homemakers. "Some confess they only took the exam to get out of class. Some say they were a little embarrassed by the whole thing," reads a General Mills history blog. "One winner wrote that when her name was announced over the school intercom all the jocks started ribbing her about making them a sandwich."[3][9]
State-level winners won $1500 for first place and $500 for second place.[7] The national winner received $5000.[7][4] State winners also received sets of the Encyclopædia Britannica for their schools.[4][10] The national winner was announced in a nationwide broadcast.[11][12]
General Mills maintained a publication called Searchlight with information and updates about Betty Crocker Homemakers of Tomorrow winners,[13] such as Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who won the award in 1966 for Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City.[14][15]
National winners
| Year | Name | Home | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Deloris Arnette | Enterprise, Alabama | [16] |
| 1956 | Sandra M. Walton | Oklahoma | [13] |
| 1957 | Priscilla Jones | Georgia | [13] |
| 1958 | Mary Martin | Mississippi | [17] |
| 1959 | Judith Dorrell | Iowa | [18] |
| 1960 | Jean D. Eberhart | Kansas | [13] |
| 1961 | Mary Sue Roach | South Carolina | [19] |
| 1962 | Nan Claire Fitzpatrick | Massachusetts | [20] |
| 1963 | Rae Jean Dell | Nebraska | [21] |
| 1964 | Suzanne Moutoux | Indiana | [22][23] |
| 1965 | Martha Yunker | South Dakota | [24][25] |
| 1966 | Candace Slater | New York | [26] |
| 1967 | Karen Pesaresi | Kansas | [27] |
| 1968 | Irene Lindley | Hawaii | [28] |
| 1969 | Martha Illige | Arizona | [29][30] |
| 1970 | Lori Fisher | California | [31] |
| 1971 | Susan Tibbetts | Rock Hill, South Carolina | [32] |
| 1972 | Christine Varney | Massachusetts | [33] |
| 1973 | Mary Lydia Ruiz | Louisiana | [34] |
| 1974 | Susan Lynn Van Wechel | Oregon | [2][35] |
| 1975 | Mary Lawlor | Ohio | [36] |
| 1976 | Daniel McVicar | Colorado | [37] |
| 1977 | Deborah Jacobs | Massachusetts | [38] |