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Hannah L. Wessling

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Hannah L. Wessling
A white woman, standing, in profile, with blond hair in a bouffant style, wearing a striped dress and an apron
Hannah L. Wessling, from a 1914 newspaper
BornMay 26, 1873
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJanuary 18, 1960
Tracy, California, U.S.
Other namesHanna L. Wesseling
Occupation(s)Chemist, food scientist

Hannah Louise Wessling (May 26, 1873 – January 18, 1960) was an American chemist, billed as "Uncle Sam's Bread Maker" during World War I.[1]

Early life and education

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Wessling was from Cincinnati, Ohio,[2] the daughter of John Henry Wessling and Mary Dorothea Rabbe Wessling. Her father and her maternal grandparents were born in Germany.[3] She graduated from Woodward High School in 1894.[4]

Career

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Wessling taught chemistry in Cincinnati as a young woman.[5] In the 1910s and 1920s, Wessling worked for the United States Department of Agriculture in Chicago[6] and later in Washington, D.C.[7] She was a food scientist,[8] testing flours and creating optimal recipes and equipment for home baking, using alternative ingredients or varying pan sizes.[9] "Miss Wessling has devoted considerable time--thirteen years--in the work of making bread, jellies, preserves, and canning fruit, and later analyzing them as a chemist," explained one 1910 newspaper report.[10] Her work took on particular relevance during World War I, when food conservation required some substitutions in traditional recipes, and working women sought more efficient and economical ways to bake.[11]

Wessling was a home economist for the Northwest Yeast Company from 1922 into the 1940s.[12][13][14] She spoke at the American Home Economics Association meeting in Buffalo in 1924.[15]

Publications

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  • "Use of Wheat Flour Substitutes in Baking" (1918)[16]
  • "The Chemical Analysis of Wheat-flour Substitutes and of the Breads Made Therefrom" (1920, with Joseph Arthur Le Clerc)[17]
  • Baking in the Home (1921)[18]
  • "Home-Breadmaking is Simple" (1931)[13]

Personal life

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Wessling lived in California in her later years. She died in 1960, at the age of 86.

References

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  1. ^ "Tampa Gas Company (advertisement)". The Tampa Times. 1918-06-10. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Writer of Post Articles on Bread Saving in Cincinnatian". The Cincinnati Post. 1917-09-18. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Mullett, Mary B. (1914-02-23). "Who's Who Among Progressive Women". The Washington Herald. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Annual Report of the Public Schools of Cincinnati. 1894. pp. 69, 71.
  5. ^ "Biscuit Expert Testifies; Miss Hannah L. Wessling Shows Effect of Bleaching Flour". The Grand Island Independent. 1910-06-15. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Pink Biscuits for a Jury; They Were Made of Bleached Flour and No One Ate Them". The Kansas City Times. 1910-06-14. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "She's Breadmaker for the Nation". The Kansas City Star. 1913-12-04. p. 16. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Britton, Edward E. (1923-01-22). "Sectional Politics in Agriculture Department". The News and Observer. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Bakes Bread for Uncle Sam". The Spokane Press. 1914-01-31. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-04-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Woman Expert Bakes Biscuit for Uncle Sam". The Kansas City Post. 1910-06-14. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Women Work for Conservation by Making War Breads". The Miami Herald. 1918-02-16. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Personal and Social". The St. Helena Star. 1922-08-11. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b Wessling, Hannah L. (1931-11-01). "Home-Breadmaking is Simple". Capper's Farmer. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Wessling, Hannah L. (1940-05-09). "Bringing Home the Baking". The Adams Weekly Globe. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Home Economic Society Opens Annual Meeting". Buffalo Courier Express. 1924-07-01. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-04-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Wessling, Hannah L. (1918). Use of Wheat Flour Substitutes in Baking. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  17. ^ Clerc, Joseph Arthur Le; Wessling, Hannah L. (1920). The Chemical Analysis of Wheat-flour Substitutes and of the Breads Made Therefrom. U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  18. ^ Wessling, Hannah L. (Hannah Louise) (1921). Baking in the home. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
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