Category Archives: Help Wanted / Volunteers

Volunteers for 4-H History Needed

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4-H has a rich history – an important history. For those who have worked in Extension or had an affiliation with 4-H in some other way over the years, the National 4-H History Preservation leadership team needs your assistance and your recollections. For those just getting started in your careers, the more you can learn about history, the better you can understand and perform your 4-H responsibilities.

Unfortunately, much of 4-H’s important national history has either been lost or destroyed, or is buried in archives difficult to access by the general public. For four years now, a group of volunteers – mostly retired state and national 4-H extension professionals or retired from National 4-H Council – have been striving to reverse this situation. The National 4-H History Preservation Program leadership team is retrieving and researching 4-H archival materials and writing about relevant 4-H history. Our leadership team works in close collaboration with the 4-H National Headquarters, NIFA, USDA; National 4-H Council and State and County 4-H programs. And, we have a growing group of volunteers helping us. Our initial group of volunteers numbered seven – now we have over 70. We are inviting you to consider becoming a Volunteer for History in the National 4-H History Preservation Program, as well.

Check out the teams and the volunteers at: http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/Teams

You may be interested in helping with our new “Voices of 4-H History” program seeking audio and video interviews about 4-H history and 4-H recollections. Or, the “Hands On” 4-H History project, seeking all kinds of activities for documenting, preserving, appreciating and using history at the local and county levels.

Help us document and write more than 100 segments for the General 4-H History section on the history website. Help us document urban 4-H programs, 4-H camping history, early black 4-H clubs, war time 4-H support and victory gardens, Native American 4-H activities, National 4-H Sunday, National 4-H Conference or contemporary 4-H history like 4-H National Youth Science Day, military family programs, after school programs, robotics and more.

Help us seek books, reports, other literature – films, videos, slide sets – to have digitized and placed in the archives on the 4-H history preservation website. Much of this material that is missing nationally, is probably in some state archive in at least one of the 50 states. We seek your help in locating it.

Help us document 4-H artifacts and establish a network supporting the hundreds of 4-H collectors across the country by providing more attention to the http://4-HCollecting.com website operated by our team.

There are many ways you can become one of the growing number of Volunteers for History. We do most of our communicating via e-mail and usually assign projects to various program teams. You may not wish to do research or writing, but maybe to be a reviewer, once drafts are written. Or, to help locate materials or recruit other volunteers within your state. No red ribbons, no white ribbons. Only blue ribbons for being on our blue ribbon 4-H volunteer history team! Contact us at: info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

Help Needed with History of Urban 4-H Programs

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The 4-H History Preservation Program Team for Urban 4-H Programs really needs your help! You can do it directly, or suggest someone else who can help, and provide their contact information to us.

We are writing the general history of 4-H’s urban programming but want to include as many vignettes on specific urban programs as we can get because their histories, their approaches were so different from one another.

We are seeking one, two or three pages of history on your urban program: How did it get started? How was your targeted audiences reached? How were volunteers recruited? What programs and activities were offered? What was the program staffing and funding structure? What was the program’s relationship with the schools? Were city leadership and local media supportive? Were you able to recruit local donors? In what ways was the program different from other urban 4-H programs? How has the program done since it was established? How is the program today?

We would welcome any photos or other materials you may care to share. Or, like in a few cities, your urban 4-H program history may already have been written; if so, can we get a copy?

If you have 4-H programs in your urban areas, their history needs to be shared. When our team has completed its task, make sure your state isn’t missing. Contact: info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

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4-H History – We Need Your Help

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4-H has a rich history – an important history. For those who have worked in Extension or had an affiliation with 4-H in some other way over the years, we need your assistance and your recollections. For those just getting started in your 4-H careers, the more you can learn about history, the better you can understand and perform your 4-H responsibilities.

Unfortunately, much of 4-H’s important history has either been lost, destroyed, or is buried in archives difficult to access by the general public. A group of volunteers – mostly retired state and national 4-H extension professionals or retired from National 4-H Council – are striving to reverse this situation. the team is retrieving and researching 4-H archival materials and writing about relevant 4-H history, particularly at the national level. the history website and digitization program is already providing access to hundreds of 4-H books, reports, newsletters, films and oral histories.

A new section on the history website: http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com pulls together all of the ways that you can help. Click on “Ways You Can Help” on the menu bar on the left side of the home page.

o Read the `We Need Your Help’ one-page flier; print it out to share with friends who may be interested.

o Review the list of contributors. Make a donation. You can designate specific projects in need of funds; and, can also honor a designated friend, colleague or relative who had or has a special interest in 4-H history.

o Check out the section `Things We Are Looking For’ and the `Help Us Tell a Story’ section… your recollections of 4-H camp, 4-H and one-room schools, 4-H fair, international 4-H program, National 4-H conference, National 4-H Sunday, 4-H television series, urban 4-H programs, Native American 4-H activities, war-time 4-H support and much more.

o While our volunteer team and volunteer consultants are busy workers, we need many more people providing their recollections, their expertise, and their contributions to accomplish our goals.

o We hope you will join us. We Need Your Help. From National 4-H History Preservation Team. info@4-HistoryPreservation.com

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