A lady going to cooking school?

Personal recipe collections have existed through the ages. Perhaps you still have your grandmother’s book of recipes, keep a notebook, or a folder on your phone with meals that you intend to cook. The Allard Pierson’s Food History Collection houses handwritten cookbooks that give us insight into the culinary habits of the past. Supported by the Louise O. Fresco Fellowship, I was able to delve into the extensive manuscript collection to research the dissemination of scientific knowledge among women at domestic science schools. These schools have garnered a negative image, often being remembered as institutions that confined women to the home and the kitchen. However, by dismissing domestic science schools as merely oppressive, we ignore the experiences of the many women who spent their time there as students and teachers.

One of these women was Anna Clara Lieftinck (1881-1972). I discovered her name from the initials in the notebook she kept in 1908 while attending the School of Cooking and Domestic Science in Groningen. She came from a family that ran a successful tobacco company in the northern province of the Netherlands. Before following courses on cooking and laundry at the domestic science school, she was educated as a French teacher. Anna Clara Lieftinck worked as a teacher at several primary schools in Amsterdam, before she was ‘honourably dismissed’ when she married. The same year she attended domestic science school, she married Lord Hendrik Teding van Berkhout (1879-1969), who later became director of the Print Room at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

The fact that she learned about cooking and laundry seems puzzling. Why would a woman of her social standing learn these skills, while she probably never had to do them herself? Her notebook shows us something about the role of domestic science education in women’s lives, as well as the ideals behind these schools. Domestic science education started in the late nineteenth century as an initiative to improve public health by educating women to cook for their families. Knowledge about nutrition was deemed vital for all layers of society.

For wealthy women such as Anna Clara Lieftinck, being educated in nutritional science meant she was able to fulfil her societal role as a modern housewife who managed the household staff based on scientific knowledge. The housekeeper Johanna Waterdrinker-van Lessen Balsters, as well as other servants who are not named in the family’s photo collection at the Rijksmuseum, took care of the daily domestic tasks. But Anna Clara Lieftinck also wanted to show she knew about cooking herself. She posed as a domestic science student for a picture in which she is wearing a cap and apron and stirring a bowl. This picture was part of decorative photo boxes that were gifted to her two daughters. The value of her education in domestic science was therefore connected to her role as wife and mother. I found that her daughter also attended domestic science school and her notebook is part of the Allard Pierson collection as well (Hs. XXX E 29, Susanna Frida Teding van Berkhout).

Personal recipe books offer fragments of women’s lives, that upon examination reveal experiences that go beyond societal expectations. I discovered that Anna Clara Lieftinck remained active in the field of education after she married. Even though her work was not credited in the study, she supported her husband on a research project about art education in primary schools. She pursued her interest in pedagogy and psychiatry by attending courses and collecting literature on the topics. Furthermore, in the 1950s she was an active member of the early library Leesmuseum voor Vrouwen (Reading Society for Women) in Amsterdam, alongside notable figures such as writer Annie M.G. Schmidt. Women like Anna Clara Lieftinck who attended domestic science schools therefore did not just ‘cook by the book’. They were able to keep developing their knowledge and make contributions in the arts and sciences.