4-H history

In the fall of 1903, Otwell and his associates in Carlinville were busy opening 10-ear entries of corn, drying them out, and repacking them for shipment to the Agricultural Palace at St Louis.

The first clover was introduced by O.H. Benson in 1908.

Following the successes in the midwest, by 1909 corn clubs were spreading through the South at a rapid rate.

Knapp's ideas prevailed, however, and on June 3, 1910, Ella Agnew received her appointment as the Department's "State Agent of Girls' Tomato Clubs – the first home demonstration agent ever appointed by the Department of Agriculture.

As early as 1912, the University of California had encouraged the formation of boys' and girls' agricultural clubs in rural areas and collaborated with school districts to organize them.

In 1913, Eben Mumford, state Extension leader for Michigan Agricultural College and the United States Department of Agriculture, held the first statewide corn growing contest.

Fifteen-year old Margaret Lofgren of the village of Ulen, Clay County, Minnesota, was thrilled to be in Washington, D.C. on June 20, 1914, as the first state champion bread-maker in the history of the 4-H clubs.

In 1915, 44 youth in corn clubs each won a trip to the Panama Pacific Exposition at San Francisco.

The very first one - held by happenstance - occurred on December 6, 1916 during the International Live Stock Exposition - the largest livestock show in the world, held annually at the Chicago Union Stockyards.

In December, 1917 Father Flanagan opened his first Boys' Home in a run-down Victorian mansion in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, accepting all boys, regardless of their race or religion.

During the Mid-West Horticultural Exposition held in Des Moines, Iowa in December 1918, the fruit growers, members of college Extension staffs and others, met at the offices of Successful Farming magazine for a day's conference on horticultural matters.

4-H has a tremendous list of films to its credit; well over 100 that were distributed nationwide, starting back before 1920.

There have been other collegiate 4-H clubs in California, including Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Stanford, Fresno State, and Humboldt State.Nationally, collegiate 4-H clubs were formed as early as 1921.

In 1922 there were only 30 radio stations in the country and a quarter million receiving sets scattered across the nation.

The winning Iowa and Colorado teams toured France in June and July, 1923, giving demonstrations of their skills, attending French schools of home economics, and sightseeing.

In 1924 – three years later – a few weeks before the Livestock Expo and National 4-H Congress were scheduled to begin, Mr.

On April 25, 1925, the First Woman's World Fair closed a successful 8-day run at the Furniture Mart on North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.

1926 seemed to be the start of many state college radio stations, particularly land-grant institutions, offering their 4-H staffs air time to promote boys and girls club work and 4-H events around the state.

Early in 1928, he was considered as a Democratic nominee for President, however his health began to fail and he died that same year, at his home on June 17 at the age of 51.

Her very first radio address was on April 19, 1929 to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and was very brief.

She became the first Iowa State Music Extension Specialist in 1930.

He died in 1931 at the age of 81, however Lipton Tea was to become the tea trade's largest worldwide success throughout the course of the twentieth century.

In California, collegiate 4-H clubs were founded at UC Davis and UC Berkeley in 1932.

The official badge was a ribbon that had a large 4-H clover at the top, "4-H Tours" in large lettering, then the official "A Century of Progress" logo, and finally "1933" at the bottom.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, traveled down to Amarillo for the occasion. It was March 5, 1934, in Amarillo, Texas: the first observation of Mother-in-Law Day.

While Boys' Town continued to grow, it became internationally known with the help of a 1938 movie, "Boys Town," starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney.

Something very special was going on during the summer of 1940 in Chicago - the landmark American Negro Exposition celebrating 75 years of Negro achievement.

Hundreds of 4-H delegates, jubilant from a successful National 4-H Congress, started heading back home from Chicago on December 5, 1941.

When searching for information on this film, be sure to include the date 1942.]

L. to R. Beatrice Tahmalikera, Billie Tonpahhote, Lucy White Horse, Lee Monett Tsatoke, Myrtle Ann Beaver and David Joinkeen. (National 4-H News June 1943)

The film was the last screen appearance of longtime western actor Harry Carey, who died in September 1947, before the film was released.

In 1948, a group of American young people went to Europe, and a group of Europeans came to the United States on the first International Farm Youth Exchange.

During the decade of the 1950's the National 4-H Club Foundation was on a mission.

Prior to the Wessel book, the major history on 4-H was "The 4-H Story, A History of 4-H Club Work" written by Franklin M. Reck and published by the National 4-H Service Committee in 1951.

Out-of-state trips and international exchanges have been highly educational for hundreds of young people in 4-H. 4-H celebrates 50th anniversary in 1952.

During the decades of the 40s, 50s and 60s the 4-H Club Congress delegates were treated to these special dancing parties, earlier on at the Trianon Ballroom on the South side of Chicago, and later - starting in 1954, at the Aragon Ballroom on the North side.

Filming took place during June 1956, and when it was completed, Annette, Sammy and Kevin returned to California to start work on "Further Adventures of Spin and Marty."

In approximately 1961, the top winners received trays presented in the name of the President of the United States instead of the trophies.

By spring of 1962 the Peace Corps trainees were in Brazil with Francis Pressly being named Country Project Coordinator for the Brazil project.

Miss Burnham, a 1967 national winner in the 4-H Food Preservation awards program sponsored by Kerr Glass Manufacturing Corporation, was interviewed by Godfrey on the show.

Beginning in 1968, National 4-H Week was moved to the first full week of October, beginning with the first Sunday of October.

By 1969, 4-H had grown to 50,000 members, with 20 percent of members coming from low income areas.

According to Sue Benedetti, 4-H Extension, USDA, who coordinated the program in the early 1970's, more than 1,350 original posters were submitted by 4-H members, as well as clubs, in the first year of the program.

President Richard M. Nixon helped make the Golden Anniversary of National 4-H Congress in Chicago very special by attending and addressing the entire delegation on December 1, 1971.

Cauthen's first race was at Churchill Downs in May, 1976; he came in last.

The 8" x 33" scarf was sold during the late 1980's through the National 4-H Supply Service (now 4-H Mall) and was often used as prized gifts in honoring people at the national level.

During early 1983 one of the largest efforts to promote the National 4-H Center was planned and orchestrated.

Harold A. Poling, executive vice president, North American Automotive Operations, Ford Motor Company, was elected the new chairman of the board of trustees of National 4-H Council on May 31, 1984.

After his first year at Purdue in 1985, NASA arranged for mentorship by Mark Deuser, an engineer who was working for Kentucky Fried Chicken, the corporation that sponsored the $50,000 incubation project.

On February 19, 1987, the "Detroit Free Press" – the nation's eighth largest daily newspaper – ran a special eight page section.

The climax of National 4-H Council's $50 million "Campaign for 4-H" was celebrated on December 6, 1988 during the 67th National 4-H Congress in Chicago.

National 4-H Council and Institutional Development Council (IDC) joined forces this past Fall [1989] to test the first National 4-H telecommunications program.

In 1994 the National 4-H Council, which conducted National 4-H Congress in coordination with the extension services of USDA and the land-grant universities and colleges, announced they would no longer be hosting this traditional awards and recognition event.

The campaign was launched during National 4-H Week in 1997.

The 1998 National 4-H Council Annual Report states that after just eight months, the '4-H Are You Into It?' campaign garnered $36.2 million worth of media placements – $9 million more than the typical Ad Council campaign earns in an entire year.

"No program or project that Council has undertaken in 2001 better illustrates how Council is living its mission than its work on the "National Conversation on Youth Development in the 21st Century – 4-H's gift to the nation to commemorate its Centennial.

The National 4-H Hall of Fame was established in 2002 as part of the 4-H Centennial Project of the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA), and partners with National 4-H Council and 4-H Youth Development, USDA.

In 2003 Jennifer Nettles teamed up with Kristen Hall and Kristian Bush to form Sugarland, one of the top country music groups in America.

National 4-H Council created the 4-H Brand Network in 2006 and embarked on a market research program that would provide dynamic and useful information to inspire more people to actively promote 4-H within their communities.

And, even on "The Simpsons" in a 2008 episode Bart Simpson joins the 4-H with a scrawny little calf that eventually develops into a raging bull.

For several years, starting in 2010, National 4-H Council has partnered with Tractor Supply Company (TSC) for a national in-store fundraiser called the 4-H Paper Clover Campaign.