Sarah Tyson Rorer


Sarah Tyson Rorer was an American food writer and pioneer in the field of domestic science. Rorer has been described as the first American dietitian.

Biography

She was born at Richboro, Pennsylvania, daughter of Charles Tyson Heston, a pharmacist, and Elizabeth Sagers. Rorer received her early education in East Aurora, New York, and was educated in cooking at the New Century School of Cookery, Philadelphia. After she completed school, she herself became a teacher of cooking and dietetics at the New Century Club. In 1884 she founded the Philadelphia School of Cookery. In the course of her career, Mrs. Rorer gave many cooking exhibitions, some of them at the Pennsylvania Chautauqua. She was President of the women's auxiliary board of the Pennsylvania Chautauqua. Her most famous demonstrations were at the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904, where she was director and manager of the East and West pavilions.
She was editor and part owner of Table Talk from 1886 to 1892, was an editor of Household News from 1893 to 1897, then was a member of the staff of the Ladies Home Journal until 1911 when Good Housekeeping secured her services. She was a director of the Pennsylvania Chautauqua School of Domestic Science.
Rorer was not a vegetarian but she did author a successful vegetarian cookbook, Mrs. Rorer's Vegetable Cookery and Meat Substitutes which illustrated how to cook three meatless meals a day.
In 1871, she married William Albert Rorer, from whom she separated around 1896. They had three children. Two boys survived them. She died at her home in Colebrook, Pennsylvania.

Selected publications

Rorer published many books on cooking which became standard. Among her publications were: