Nell B. Nichols

Nell Beaubien Nichols (1894–1984) was born on a farm in eastern Kansas before the turn of last century. The family soon moved west just outside of Dodge City where Nell grew up as the era of cowboys, gunslingers, and the Santa Fe Trail was ending. She learned to cook at her mothers side on a wood stove with ingredients mostly grown or raised on the farm. After graduating from high school (located on the famous Boot Hill of Dodge City), she earned her bachelor degree at Kansas State College and then a master's degree at the University of Wisconsin. Her landmark research into the nutritional value of soy beans was eventually translated into five languages. She later observed, “It is difficult to comprehend how little Americans knew in 1917 about these legumes. In fact, I, as a farm girl, had never seen a soybean before I started cooking them for my experimental rats. The aim of the research was to determine the nutritional value of the soybeans, i.e., the efficiency of its protein, as well as to find if it contains the growth accessory substances in sufficient amounts to support life. (These substances were later called vitamins.)” Nell wrote for many magazines, including Ladies' Home Journal, Farm and Fireside, the Delineator, and Women’s Home Companion. She also penned two cookbooks before starting with Farm Journal time in the early 1950s. While at Farm Journal she wrote many cookbooks, from the general Country Cookbook to specialized cookbooks for Pies, Bread, Vegetables, Entertaining, and more. Every recipe was rigorously tested and then written with clear instructions which, when followed, would garner success.