Folks Who Helped Make 4-H Great
Guy L. Noble

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This is the sixth in the series of 10 articles, reprinted from 1962 National 4-H News, which featured people identified by Extension Service professional staff members as “folks who helped make 4-H great.”

Guy L. Noble

Guy_L_NobleOne of the unique features of 4-H Club work is its extensive system of private support and the allied network of incentives and awards which help encourage boys and girls to do their best work. This support exists at all levels – national, regional, state and local. It came into existence as the Extension Service and 4-H Club workers expressed needs for help in various facets of club work.

One man stands out as the greatest influence on early national and regional support – Guy L. Noble. Co-founder and first director of the National 4-H Service Committee and co-originator of the National 4-H Club Congress, Noble successfully welded the link between business and government that was so sorely needed in the early days of 4-H.

Noble’s story can’t be told without telling the story of the founding of the National Committee, as 4-H workers refer to the organization in Chicago.

As an employee of Armour and Company, Noble induced his company to sponsor about 40 all-expense trips to the 1919 International Livestock Exposition in Chicago, then wrote to state club leaders in areas where Armour bought livestock, inviting them to select trip winners. In the meanwhile, he arranged a program of entertainment and tours for the Armour trip winners plus some 100 boys and girls who came to Chicago as guests of their local communities, railroads and other sponsors. That assemblage at the 1919 Exposition is recognized as the first National 4-H Club Congress. At that meeting, Noble met E. N. Hopkins, who came with the Iowa delegation. Hopkins had been promoting rural youth work for years, first as editor of the Arkansas Fruit and Farm magazine, then as editor in charge of youth activities for the Meredith Publishing Company.

These two men, Noble and Hopkins, in 1920 and ’21 followed up on earlier proposals to form a national committee to coordinate the growing number of trips and prizes for club work. In late 1921 the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work was born, with Noble leaving Armour to become executive secretary. (The name changed in 1960 to National 4-H Service Committee.) Industrial leaders included E. T. Meredith, Thomas E. Wilson, John Coverdale and others.

As the program progressed, Noble established the National 4-H News as an idea exchange medium for 4-H workers, the National 4-H Supply Service and other types of aid to 4-H. His success in enlisting the financial and other help of respected industrial leaders was a source of prestige for 4-H. Noble always set high standards for entertainment and other incentives offered to 4-H’ers.

Co-workers of this pioneer, in describing his work, use such terms as “Dedicated,” “had a deep conviction about the value of 4-H training for youth,” “a strong promoter of 4-H who publicized club work widely,” and “did more to sell 4-H to the businessmen of this nation than any other single person.”

Not only did Noble raise the status of 4-H in the eyes of other Extension workers by strengthening projects and providing the best in entertainment and other features for Club Congress; he helped all of Extension by working hard for large appropriations from the national legislature for the support of Extension work.

Noble also contributed to the cultural side of 4-H. He introduced concerts and other music at Club Congress, as well as plays and skits. He encouraged drama and singing as 4-H activities.

“A boyhood in State Center, Iowa, a degree in dairy husbandry at Iowa State College, and interims of work on railroads, Iowa farms, a Colorado ranch, and Washington and Alberta wheat fields” were the prelude to Noble’s work at Armour, according to Franklin M. Reck in his official history “The 4-H Story.”

When Noble retired in early 1958, he had served 4-H diligently and well for nearly 40 years. The cooperative effort marking 4-H Club work today is a monument to his foresight and industry.

 

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4-H Postage Stamp

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The following story is from the National Compendium of 4-H Promotion and Visibility on the National 4-H History website at

http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/4-H_Promotion/

To mark the 50th anniversary of 4-H, a commemorative three cent stamp was produced. The stamp went on sale at Springfield, Ohio on January 15, 1952. An initial order of 110 million stamps were authorized.4-H_Stamp[1]

The central design of the stamp depicts a group of typical farm buildings at the left, while in the center appears the symbolic four leaf clover, with the letter “H”. Directly below the symbol is inscribed: ‘The 4-H clubs’. Dominating the right side of the design are a teen age boy and girl, facing the club symbol. At the top of the stamp are the words “To Make the Best Better.”

This stamp is the only officially produced U.S. postage stamp in 4-H’s long history. For additional information on the stamp, the commemorative event, and other stamp efforts, visit:

http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/Stamps/

 

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Folks Who Helped Make 4-H Great
C. B. Smith

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This is the seventh in the series of 10 articles, reprinted from 1962 National 4-H News, which featured people identified by Extension Service professional staff members as “folks who helped make 4-H great.”

C. B. Smith

C_B_SmithMany 4-H workers have a deep-seated philosophy about 4-H. It’s a special gift to be able to lend words to such feelings about this youth movement. And one of the more articulate speakers and writers on this subject was Dr. Clarence Beaman Smith, who spent 26 of his some 40 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in serving Extension work and, as part of it, boys’ and girls’ club work.

In his poetry and prose, Smith put into words the feelings that he and many other pioneers of club work developed as they saw – but not from the sidelines – the movement grow and flourish. For Smith and his fellow trailblazers transformed their feelings into an action program.

C_B_Smith-2In several ways does today’s 4-H Club work reflect Smith’s contributions.
The youth program’s strong position in overall Extension work is partly a result of his vigorous backing in early years, when many agricultural workers “didn’t have time” for club work. Smith was instrumental in setting up the policy-making 4-H Subcommittee of the formal Extension organization.

As has been said for all the 4-H pioneers discussed in this series, Smith exerted a strong influence for high standards in club work. He didn’t deprecate material things, but he stressed high ideals in youth training. This Federal Extension worker helped establish the memoranda of understanding which put the Smith-Lever act of 1914 into operation by creating Cooperative Extension Services in individual states.

In his position of national leadership, Smith helped create the first National 4-H Club Camp (now National Conference). He opened that 1927 gathering – housed in tents on the U.S.D.A. grounds – with a talk on 4-H in which he stressed that “education is not preparation for life but life itself.”

Smith was born in a one-room log cabin at Howardsville, Mich., the son of Alonzo and Harriett Smith. In the words of one biographer, “Here Dr. Smith learned the fundamental values of life – work, thrift, neighborliness, integrity …”

After attending high school in Gaylord, Mich., Smith borrowed $40 from his parents and started out for the state agricultural college at East Lansing. He worked his way to a B.S. degree in 1894 and an M.S. degree in 1895. After one year as a high school principal, he joined the U.S.D.A.’s Office of Experiment Stations. In 1912 he was made Chief of the Office of Cooperative Extension Work for the entire country, and in 1932 was appointed Assistant Director of Extension. He held this position until his retirement in 1938, after which he continued to write and speak for 4-H.

What kind of man was this 4-H pioneer, who died in 1948? Two of his early co-workers, Gertrude Warren and Paul Taff, describe him as “a great character” with a kindly face and a businesslike manner, a deep thinker and careful organizer. His decisions were fair and were based on strong convictions.

But the continuous thread of philosophy, made evident in his poetry and prose, seems the outstanding trait of C. B. Smith, who wrote:

“The biggest thing (parents) can leave (their children) is an ambition to do and accomplish, to endow them with healthy minds and bodies … Yes, there is growth in struggle. And it is our business in 4-H Club work to place before rural people the things in life most work striving for.”

 

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National 4-H Poster Program

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National 4-H posters were popular visibility tools in 4-H for decades. The first national poster was created as a sales item by the National Committee on Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work in 1924, a year before the National 4-H Supply Service was even launched. It showed a large 4-H clover emblem with the words, “We are for Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work.” It was suggested by Gertrude Warren, 4-H/Extension Service, USDA.

Throughout the rest of the decade of the 1920s, the National Committee on Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work produced annual posters which were distributed throughout the Extension System and to donors, and then offered for sale through the Supply Service. The last of this series apparently was the poster issued in 1931. Due to the Depression, no new posters were issued until after World War II. There were, however, a couple of wartime 4-H posters produced and offered through the National 4-H Supply Service.

In 1946, Coats & Clark Inc. (J. & P. Coats and Clark), which had been sponsoring the National 4-H Clothing Awards Program since 1941, began sponsoring the National 4-H Poster Program, too. Working with the 4-H Office, Extension, USDA and National 4-H Service Committee’s information staff, Coats & Clark annually produced and distributed (for free) the national 4-H poster; later, they also provided the poster design as a colored slide. The poster distribution was geared to having the posters distributed in time for use during National 4-H Week.

Following many years of providing 4-H leaders and agents with free posters by simply writing their headquarters, in the late 1960s Coats & Clark started offering the posters for a fee – 5 cents each (order in multiples of 20). They were available from the county agent or state
4-H office, not from Coats & Clark.

Many of the annual poster artwork pieces were painted by the famous artist, William C. Griffith, who also was the artist for about 15 of the historic 4-H calendar art pieces.

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National 4-H Poster Art Exhibit, created by Mrs. Fern Kelley, program leader, 4-H, Extension USDA, confirmed that the 4-H Poster Art Program, which was held for the first time in 1970 was such a tremendous success that it would be continued again in 1971. It was her idea that 4-H Members should have a role in creating their National Poster

According to Sue Benedetti, then 4-H Extension, USDA, who coordinated the program in the early 1970s, more than 1,350 original posters were submitted by 4-H members, as well as clubs, in the first year of the program. The posters were judged by delegates to National 4-H Conference during sessions on 4-H image. In 1971, a change in the program made it possible for posters to be judged at local, county and state levels with a highly selective group being sent to Washington for final national judging.

By the mid-1970s, delegates to National 4-H Congress were asked to suggest theme areas for 1976 posters. An article in the Fall 1978 issue of National 4-H Council Quarterly reports that the 4-H Poster Art Program continues to grow – that a recent survey conducted by National 4-H Council showed that 47 states were participating in the program, accounting for over 130,000 4-H members submitting posters that could eventually become the design for the national 4-H poster.

It is believed that the National 4-H Poster Program was disbanded in the early 1980s. Some of the original national poster art is located at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center. A complete history of the National 4-H Poster Program can be found in the National 4-H History section of the 4-H History website http://4-hhistorypreservation.com/Posters/

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A nearly complete set of the posters from 1946 through 1981 is also a part of the Elsie Carper Special Collection at the National Agriculture library http://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/poster-collections/elsie-carper-collection-on-ext

The only poster missing is the one pictured below in this advertisement in the February 1953 National 4-H News. If you have seen or own a copy of this poster we would appreciate hearing from you at Info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com We are eager to complete this national collection and the historical records.

Hands-on History. 4-H’ers Help Fight Hunger

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The following story is from the National Compendium of 4-H Promotion and Visibility on the National 4-H History website at

http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/4-H_Promotion/


At the start of 1919, much of the world was still recovering from World War I which had ended nearly fourteen months earlier. The January issue of Junior Soldiers of the Soil (predecessor to National 4-H News) had a number of articles about hunger in the aftermath of war.

One member wrote, “We are glad that the war is over but I am not going to stop raising food. It is just as patriotic to raise food now as ever, so let all Junior Soldiers raise more food and make ourselves known as loyal Junior Soldiers.” Later in the issue is a call to “Organize a Junior Soldier Squad.” President Hoover cautioned that, “We must export ten times as much food if we prevent Europe from starving during the coming year. Let every one of us raise food and feed” to help save Europe.

Since that time, programs have been created to help combat hunger in the US and countries around the world. Yet, USDA reports that in 2014 an estimated 14.0 percent of American households (over one in seven) were food insecure at least some time during the year and the prevalence of very low food security was at 5.6 percent.

Rhode Island Club girls show their patriotism with this 1918 exhibit of canned produce they have grown and preserved. Notice the flags among the canned goods.

Rhode Island Club girls show their patriotism with this 1918 exhibit of canned produce they have grown and preserved. Notice the flags among the canned goods.

 

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National 4-H Alumni Survey – 1985

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The following story is from the National Compendium of 4-H Promotion and Visibility on the National 4-H History website at

http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/4-H_Promotion/


The year 1985 was a significant year for National 4-H Council regarding how former participants of the 4-H program felt about the program… the impact. At that time 4-H had 40 million living alumni. This is an overwhelming figure, but yet remained basically meaningless… valueless… without some further explanation or documentation. Who are these alumni? What do they think about their 4-H experience? Was it of any sustaining value to them?

Several projects were done during the first seven or eight months of the year. Over 50,000 alumni were identified through these projects. Most of these projects were done by National 4-H Council’s Communications Division in partnership with Council’s Resource Development Office.

Donors assisted with some surveys, carrying an alumni query response card as an insert in their house organ. Others placed an alumni identification “stuffer” in with their monthly customer credit card mailings. Direct mail appeals… one over Roy Rogers’ signature, were done.

In some cases, responses were tremendously high. For example, a survey done by 4-H Council of 4,300 state and national awards winners from 1965-75 – 10 to 20 years ago – using 10 to 20 year old addresses and a 7-page narrative paper survey, resulted in over 2,000 respondents, a 50% return!

Additionally, responses from the alumni were traditionally very positive relating to their 4-H experiences. Many 4-H alumni credit 4-H with selection of their career. The skills taught in 4-H relating to public speaking and record-keeping also were mentioned over and over again. And, third, many respondents continued to be involved, either as local leaders or 4-H parents.

Results of all of these surveys became a strong part of a promotion program, keeping alumni informed and engaged and ultimately as resources for knowledge, as well as dollars!

Although the actual results of the surveys completed in 1985 have not yet been located, the best record of this effort is a copy of a speech given by Council’s Communication Division Director Larry Krug at the 1985 National 4-H Donors’ Conference in Chicago entitled “An Investment Report: Allegiance of Former Participants.” This will soon be digitized and placed in the Books and Printed Materials Archive on the 4-H History website.

 

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4-H History Preservation Newsletter
March 2016

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March is Women’s History Month

In 1978, Sonoma County (CA) Council on Women established a US Women’s History Week, tied to March 8, International Women’s Day. In 1987 Congress established Women’s History Month. Fortunately for 4-H, women and girls make up great percentages of members, leaders and Extension educators. What special activities do you have planned to honor the women in your local 4-H program?

Two Notable 4-H Women

We feature two 4-H women who represent different dimensions of 4-H: Gertrude Warren was an early federal level pioneer of girls’ club work; 4-H member Martha Ann Miller was a champion baker who won a full scholarship to Purdue University at age 14.

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Promotion

Do you know what Hopalong Cassidy, Ann Landers, J. C. Penney, and Amelia Earhart have in common? Check it out in the expanding National 4-H Promotion Compendium.


Birds of Spring

From a 1919 article comes a variety of plans for bird houses, and ideas for care of birds in the Spring. Will those ideas work for your club or your community to bring history alive?




For Sale

Historical 4-H calendar art postcards are now on sale through the 4-H Mall; proceeds help restore and preserve the growing collection of original paintings used for the national 4-H calendar program from the late 40s to mid-90s.

To purchase your cards, please visit the 4-H Mall at http://bit.ly/4HPostcards


4-H in Popular TV

4-H became a central theme of “The Waltons,” a popular TV series, in a March, 1978, episode.

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St. Patrick’s Day

Besides Women’s History Month, March is also the time we honor St. Patrick who was all about green and shamrocks. Pour a cup of green tea in his honor and to pay tribute to all the women of 4-H – and enjoy this issue.

Why a National 4-H Film Festival?

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The following story is from the January 2016 issue of the 4-H History Preservation Newsletter

As we think about harnessing “Voices of 4-H History,” we know that today’s young people must be prepared to live and work in a world that no one completely envisions. They must be prepared for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, and solving problems that haven’t been identified. FilmFest 4-H helps youth become producers – and not just consumers – of digital media.

Creating something real from one’s imagination is a powerful experience. It motivates many creative young people to develop their talents, and drives them to master skills with technologies old and new.

When a young person finds that interest that drives them, and explores it in an enriching environment that supports further growth, great things happen. Research shows that these young people tend to become more optimistic, have a larger sense of purpose in life, and develop stronger self-esteem.

Filmmakers_Toolbox.

If that passion is film making, however, the options for teens are very limited. Opportunities to nurture their talents are usually priced out of reach, if they can be found at all. While all will face the future, these teens will approach it on a different trajectory than those who found enriching environments that helped them develop their “sparks.”

It’s not too early for 4-H staff to start preparing youth to prepare entries and or prepare to attend the 2016 National FilmFest 4-H in Kansas City, Missouri, July 31 – August 3. Learn more about the idea and the program and watch top finishers from the past few years at: http://4h.missouri.edu/go/events/filmfest/

Bradd L. Anderson – Missouri State 4-H Youth Development Specialist

 

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Corn Clubs Spread Through the South

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The following story is from the National Compendium of 4-H Promotion and Visibility on the National 4-H History website at

http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/4-H_Promotion/

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Following the successes in the midwest, by 1909 corn clubs were spreading through the South at a rapid rate. In Virginia that first year, 10,543 boys joined corn clubs and while many of them merely went along with the crowd, some of them made records that surprised their communities. Other states were having similar experiences. On one of his trips from Washington to Mississippi, Dr. Seaman Knapp, highly pleased with the way boys’ demonstration work was going, offered a trip to Washington to the Mississippi boy who made the best record with his corn crop. His offer started something. Following up the lead, O. B. Martin made a similar offer in his own state of South Carolina. T. O. Sandy, in Virginia, raised the purse to send the Virginia champion to the Capitol, and the bankers of Arkansas promised a trip to their champion.

Four young winners – representing four states – made the trip: Ralph Bellwood, Virginia; Bascom Usher, South Carolina; Dewitt C. Lundy, Mississippi; and Elmer Halter, Arkansas. These four teen-age boys were honored for their proficiency in cultivating soil. They were introduced to President William Howard Taft at the White House, and awarded the first diplomas of their kind by Secretary of Agriculture Wilson. They became charter members of the All-Star Corn Club, a national honorary organization of champion growers.The following story is from the October 2015 issue of the 4-H History Preservation Newsletter

Knapp’s idea of giving prize trips to Washington was continued the following year, and the record made by these boys was more sensational than those of the 1909 winners. The hero of the trip was Jerry Moore, 16-year-old Winona, South Carolina, boy who had raised the amazing total of 228-3/4 bushels on his acre.

Jerry was headlined throughout the nation as the champion corn grower of all time. Newspapers and magazines carried his story in detail, picturing the slight, straw-hatted boy sitting on the edge of an immense mountain of husked corn – the product of his one-acre experiment. His thorough records show exactly how he prepared the soil and what he used for fertilizer. He planted Batts’ Four-ear Prolific corn by hand, about three inches apart in the drill, thinning the plants to about six inches when a half-foot high. He cultivated his corn every four days. Jerry Moore’s story is worth recalling because news of his great yield arched over the nation like a rainbow, providing an apt object lesson for farmers whose yields were lower than they might have been.

 

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National 4-H News… Reaching the Local Level

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The following story is from the National Compendium of 4-H Promotion and Visibility on the National 4-H History website at

http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/4-H_Promotion/


Pic_008a[1]The only national magazine devoted exclusively to the 4-H program, National 4-H News, was created by the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work, serving as an exchange of information and fresh ideas and resources for volunteer adult and junior leaders for 65 years – the first issue appearing in April 1923… and the last issue in April 1988.

4-H news was channeled from the national level to local 4-H leaders directly to the club and community level. Conversely, volunteer leaders were some of the major contributors to the magazine, sharing their success stories… as well as their challenges and problems, so News traveled from the local level directly to the national level, as well as from top down.

Pic_008b[1]The National 4-H History Preservation program team members doing research on various aspects of 4-H history have come to find that National 4-H News is the singular best source for 4-H history in existence. The magazine was undoubtedly also one of 4-H’s best nationwide visibility tools, month after month. The magazines have been digitized and will soon be on the history website.

The history of the national magazine can be found on the National 4-H History Preservation website at:
http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/Nat_4-H_News/

 

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