Beatrice Paolucci: Shaping Destiny through Everyday Life

This book tells the story of Beatrice Paolucci: teacher, family scholar, visionary, family member, and friend. She was born to an Italian American family in a small mining town in Illinois. Beatrice Paolucci had infantile paralysis before she could walk, at a time when there was no vaccine and treatment was limited. But she did not consider herself handicapped. She became a distinguished faculty member at Michigan State University and an international leader in family study and home economics (now family and consumer sciences). Beatrice Paolucci was a pacesetter in viewing the family as an integral part of the human ecosystem. She pointed out that, collectively, everyday activities and decisions in the family have a large impact on environmental resources. Families also create human and social capital, thereby helping to shape human destiny.

This book will be of interest to those concerned with women's roles, changes in contemporary families, preservation of the environment, and the quality of life.