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History of 4-H
1. "In the Beginning"... A brief history of 4-H
As the twentieth century dawned American agriculture was in its "golden age." However, there were already signs that this would not continue. The attractions of city life and the beginning of the industrial revolution were on the horizon. As more of the nation's young people moved to the city in search for their future, the movement that would become 4-H began as an attempt to recapture the romance and ideals of the agrarian society.
It was not a single movement, but an idea that was wide spread and grew from many different origins. At the same time, the American education system was under going changes as it followed John Dewy's articulation of education as a combination of abstract teaching and learning by doing. (That sounds familiar to those involved in 4-H.)
In 1986, Liberty Hyde Bailey introduced nature study leaflets and organized clubs to impress on school children the importance of the natural environment around them. Cornell University helped organized clubs to ensure that the curriculum was used.
Will B. Otwell had trouble getting adult farmers interested in trying new seed corn. In 1889 he offered Macoupin County, Ohio, youth one dollar premium for the best yield of corn produced from Midwest seed he had collected. More than 500 boys requested seed corn for the contest. The number grew to 1500 boys by 1901. And for the 1906 St. Louis exposition, more than 50,000 youth entered the corn contest.
In 1901, Superintendent Albert Graham, Springfield Township, Ohio, offered experimental clubs outside of school. The meetings were held on Saturday mornings when the families would be in town. The first projects included testing soil with litmus paper and selecting the best seed corn from their father's crop for future planting in test plots. A year later he contacted and received help from the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station. By 1903-04 thirteen township wide clubs were operating under the school superintendents.
Of course, word of such success stories spread. In 1905, Jasper L. McBrien, Nebraska Superintendent of Public Instruction expanded the corn growing contest to sewing and baking projects. This led to the establishment of the Nebraska Boys' Agricultural Association and the Nebraska Girls' Domestic Science Association. The organization's stated purpose read in part, "to educate the youth of the county, town, and city to a knowledge of their dependence upon nature's resources, and to the value of the fullest development of hand, head and heart ..."
Meanwhile, Indiana and Georgia started corn growing contests in 1904. At the same time, a school fair in Iowa, contained nearly 4000 exhibits from school clubs. Exhibits ranged from wood collections, to reports on cattle sales, and maps of county farms, roads and woodlands. At the "fair", young people spoke about their projects. Today we call these, public speaking and demonstrations.
In the west, independent of the other efforts, Portland Union Stockyards, organized local fairs for judging exhibits made by young people from the area. By the end of 1908, corn contests were spread across the South and Midwest.
In 1903, Seaman Knapp worked with a local Texas farmer, Walter Porter, with new tillage methods to control cotton boll weevil. The demonstration was a success and furthered the philosophy of learning-by-doing. In 1907, Knapp was working with Mississippi youth using demonstration and youthful enthusiasm to bring new farming techniques to the area.
National recognition for the program came when, Knapp offered to sponsor the boy with the best yield, a trip to Washington, D.C. The funds were raised locally. Upon hearing this, many corn contests made the same offer, raised the funds, and in 1909 four boys made the first trip to the nation's capital. Otwell and Knapp provided an incentive that continues to this day in the 4-H Youth Development Program ... appropriate recognition.
All of these efforts were initiated at the county level and usually through the work of the county school superintendent. Formal clubs were not part of the effort. However, in 1910, Knapp secured funds through USDA Farmer's Cooperative Demonstration Work. With the funds, Knapp initiated the first girl's canning clubs. But the clubs had to focus on canning tomatoes because of limited resources.
That same year in South Carolina, Marie S. Cromer, of Aiken County established a canning club with 46 young ladies participating. The ladies planted, and canned one tenth of an acre of tomatoes each. In Virginia, Ella Agnew organized cooking and gardening classes and the state's first tomato clubs.
By 1912, Knapp's agents had organized over 23,000 canning clubs throughout the South. Poultry clubs had also been established. Mississippi introduced livestock clubs, specifically, pig clubs in 1909-1910. The winners were awarded cash prizes.
It is important to note that the original intent of all of this was not to educate youth, but to teach adults improved ways of farming ... the development of boys and girls as an objective of club work came later.
The Smith-Lever Act passed in 1914, established the Cooperative Extension system as an integral part of the Land Grant Colleges. This provided for the current three part mission of these colleges and universities ... education, research and extension. Membership in club grew and expanded from 1914 to 1919 as the need for more food and production increased due to World War I. By 1918, membership had grown to more than 500,000 youth.
Local communities helped finance projects, with the end result of more meat and more food for the soldiers overseas. There were also increases in the prizes one could win. State and national breed associations became involved with the effort on a large scale. In 1919, northern and western 4-H leaders met in Kansas City and proposed the first "club" structure for 4-H. By this time a number of states employed individuals, usually through the local Farm Bureau to support the program. Idaho, Michigan and Ohio are noted for leading the way. At this meeting, project tasks were outlined and a simple set of criteria were established for each project.
2. History of 4-H in Arizona
Arizona 4-H programs began in 1913. The first club was the Cotton Boys' Club in Chandler organized under the volunteer leadership of George Peabody. By 1914, 4-H membership numbered 87 in twelve Boys' and Girls' Clubs, including seven corn, three cotton and two grain sorghum clubs. Stanley F. Morse, the Extension Superintendent, wrote project guidelines.
World War I influenced the growing 4-H programs in Arizona. Special emergency funds enabled Arizona Agricultural Extension Service to hire three temporary district club leaders on May 21, 1917. The Farm Boys' Encampment at the State Fair in 1917 was the first known 4-H camp. Eight demonstration teams, composed of five girls, were each organized and trained to give canning demonstrations to the public.
It was learned that 4-H youth were effective in demonstrating new and innovative practices. Parents of youth and others in the community often were reached in this way. Most club projects concerned corn, cotton, grain sorghum, and swine in the early years.
The 4-H organizational format was changed in 1918 to accommodate two kinds of 4-H clubs. The Standard Club had less than 25 members, all taking one kind of project. The Liberty Club had 25 or more members, taking a variety of projects, with the goal of producing all the food they could. In 1918, 4-H membership was more than 2,000 with 63 volunteer leaders. The first four Leader Training Schools were conducted in 1918 and the Farm Bureau sponsored 4-H club work to provide leadership.
The Arizona 4-H program continued to grow and develop during the 1920's with local Farm Bureaus providing leadership. For the first time three Arizona 4-H members sponsored by the Sante Fe Railroad attended the 1923 National 4-H Club Congress. Carolyn Eyring from Pima in Graham County was the 1923 National 4-H Leadership winner. Her club had 118 members under the leadership of Mrs. Ethel Kelley and 13 other leaders.
The depression curtailed 4-H activities during the early 1930's, but began to rebound during the fiscal year of 1934-35. Most 4-H leaders during the 1930's were school teachers. Larger clubs offering a variety of projects were known as "united clubs." "Foods for hot weather clubs" and "hot lunch clubs" were among the unique programs offered.
In 1940, 4-H enrollment in Arizona exceeded 3,000 for the first time. The 4-H Department at the State Fair was revived for the first time since the Depression. In the late 1940's, 4-H club work with Native Americans on the reservation was begun.
A change of emphasis occurred in the Arizona 4-H program during the 1960's. Community club work replaced project groups that had evolved in the move away from the school-centered programs. County council groups developed comprehensive calendars of 4-H activities to accommodate the popular demands for competition.
Membership in 4-H grew rapidly in the 1970's. Urban and minority youths were recruited in large numbers because of affirmative action programming and because of other specially funded programs. Also in 1970, Congress added a youth component to Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) funding. Agents and paraprofessionals were employed by 4-H in Maricopa and Pima counties to recruit and train indigenous volunteers and eligible youth, including those in urban areas. The 4-H agents became managers of the program as well as educators.
During the first half of the 1980's, and for the first time in Arizona 4-H Program history, member enrollments in special interest programs surpassed enrollments in traditionally organized 4-H clubs. These special interest programs were short term projects or single concept educational programs targeted to meet a special need or audience. |
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