4-H educators nominated new locations for the National 4-H History Map at the recent National Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA) meeting in Portland, Oregon. Visitors to the 4-H History Preservation Program Exhibit viewed the 119 locations currently posted to the Map , and those 4-H educators nominated new locations for the National 4-H History Map at the recent National Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA) meeting in Portland, Oregon. Visitors to the 4-H History Preservation Program Exhibit viewed the 119 locations currently posted to the Map , and those who wanted to add a site filled out a form and put a green pin into that location on the paper map. On return home, 4-H educators will work with youth and adults to round up old photos, clippings, related web sites, that will make their historical 4-H location more interesting to the internet users of the 4-H History Map, as they travel across the United States.
These nominations are the first steps in the process of getting countless historically significant 4-H sites documented on the growing, internet-based atlas of 4-H history. Forty-four 4-H educators from 27 states (AZ, CO, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SD, TX, WV, and WY) committed to grow a history mapping effort in their state and will get youth and adults involved in identifying historically significant 4-H locations in their communities.
These new state 4-H Map teams will identify locations to be nominated, reviewed, approved, and loaded into the interactive National 4-H History Map. Reviewers and approvers will follow up with the nominators to get more complete information, such as photo/video/text, on the points of interest (POI) before the sites will be posted to the 4-H History Map..
It’s easy to join in this effort. Putting up a US or state map at a 4-H event attended by 4-H teens, volunteers, staff, and alumni, who know 4-H sites that should be documented, is a very effective way of recruiting new suggestions for your area to take a rightful place on this 4-H History Map. In Portland, it was important to have attendants that were excited about the project so that they could build interest and collect contact information from those who express interest in getting involved.
Maryland and Texas have committed to events in November to increase the number of locations and points of interest documented on the Map.
- Dwayne Murphey, Maryland State 4-H History Map leader, has an event planned for the Maryland Teen and Volunteer Forum in Ocean City. They’ll use the same props (foam poster board, US Map, with pins to indicate locations) which proved effective at NAE4-HA.
- Dr. Tamra McGaughy, 4-H Educator in Dallas County, TX, will be working with the state 4-H office to further the project. She stated, “This will be an awesome opportunity for 4-H youth to learn.
Think about sites/locations/points of interest that could be nominated from your community, county or state. Also help in the search for old photos/video/texts that will enhance the value of the points of interest which you propose to be documented.
Every month, new sites/locations will be added to the “smart phone accessible version” of the map, for use by 4-H families traveling across the U. S. So join the effort to get members, leaders and alumni to participate. It is your 4-H history!
Try out the online version of the 4-H History Map at http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History_Map
For more information on the 4-H History Map project contact Tom Tate at tateace@aol.com or Jason Rine at Jason.Rine@mail.wvu.edu
Please help us preserve 4-H History . . .
