Dr. Flemmie Kittrell was a Black home economist whose research in the field of early childhood education shaped the way we think about child development today. She became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nutrition and contributed immensely to programs like Head Start – even though her name is often left out of the history. We'll hear more about her life and work in a story from the podcast Lost Women of Science, hosted by Carol Sutton Lewis and Danya AbdelHameid. This episode first aired on Making Contact in March 2025.

Featuring:

Dolores Caffey-Fleming, Program director of Project STRIDE, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Allison Horrocks, Public historian
Lauren Bauer, fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution

Credits:

Making Contact

Episode host and producer: Lucy Kang
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Engineer: Jeff Emtman
Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonarain

Music

"Science Documentary" by Aleksey Chistilin (Lexin_Music) via Pixabay

Lost Women of Science: "Flemmie Kittrell and the Preschool Experiment" Credits

Hosted by Danya AbdelHameid and Carol Sutton Lewis
Written and produced by Danya AbdelHameid with senior producer Elah Feder
Music composed by Lizzie Younan
Episode sound designed and mastered by Alex Sugiura
Executive producers: Amy Scharf and Katie Hafner
Chief multimedia editor at our publishing partner, Scientific American: Jeff Delviscio

Listen to the full episode from Lost Women of Science: https://www.lostwomenofscience.org/podcast-episodes/flemmie-kittrell-and-the-preschool-experiment

Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Flemmie Kittrell and the Preschool Experiment from Lost Women of Science (Encore)