Author Archives: Larry Krug

About Larry Krug

April 22, 1938 - May 3, 2019 Larry was with 4-H for 27 years and retired as the Director of Communications. Although he passed away on May 3, 2019 after a brief illness, Larry's work with and for 4-H will live on.

Sir Thomas Lipton Honors Top 4-H Achievement Winners

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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/

Sir Thomas Lipton, c. 1909

Sir Thomas Lipton, c. 1909

In parallel to the top National 4-H Leadership boy and girl awards, in 1928 a top 4-H boy and a top 4-H girl were selected at National 4-H Congress for overall high honors in 4-H Achievement.

The program was created by the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work in consort with the 4-H Office of USDA. It was sponsored by Sir Thomas Lipton, a Scotsman who was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1898, had become a multimillionaire tea merchant, emigrating to America and establishing his business in New Jersey. 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. After the death of Sir Thomas Lipton the award for the top boy and girl in the National 4-H Achievement Awards Program became recipients of the President’s trophy, given annually in the name of the President of the United States with each winner also receiving a scholarship. In the beginning this trophy was referred to as the Roosevelt trophy, however during the 1940s it became known as the President’s trophy. Like the Leadership top honors, the two top annual 4-H achievement winners garnered much media coverage and publicity.

For more information on the National 4-H Achievement Awards and a listing of all winners, see the National 4-H Presidential Winners segment on the 4-H history website at
http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/National_Recognition/Presidential_Winners/#AD2

 

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The Moses Trophy
Top Leadership Award

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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/



Horace A. Moses


Beginning in 1924 the top 4-H Leadership award, winner of the prestigious Moses trophy, was considered the top award in 4-H. Presented at National 4-H Congress, initially there was a single winner, however after three years, there was both a boy winner and a girl winner selected. The annual announcement of these winners brought national promotion to 4-H from coast to coast with coverage in movie newsreels, on national radio broadcasts and in newspaper and magazine features.


The Moses trophies (there were two) were travelling trophies with each of the annual winners getting to retain the trophy for one year before it was traditionally passed on to the new winners. The trophies were presented in the name of Horace A. Moses, President of the Strathmore Paper Company and a member of the board of the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work.


He also sponsored the 4-H Leader Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts and funded the Horace A. Moses Building at the Eastern States Exposition. Beginning in the 1930s, the winners also received scholarships provided by Edward Foss Wilson, the son of Thomas E. Wilson. In approximately 1961, the top winners received trays presented in the name of the President of the United States instead of the trophies. But… one of the mysteries of 4-H history continues to remain today – what happened to the two prestigious traveling Moses trophies? The National 4-H History Preservation leadership Team continues to search for these trophies so they can once again be displayed at the national level.


A notable “first” in 4-H history is the very first winner of the famous H. A. Moses trophy, awarded in the National 4-H Leadership program to Ford Mercer of Wellston, Oklahoma.


For more information on the National 4-H Leadership Program and a listing of all winners at

http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/National_Recognition/Presidential_Winners/#AD1

 

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Peter Max and 4-H

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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/



Peter Max, one of America’s most renowned pop artists, known for his use of psychedelic shapes and colors, partnered with 4-H in the mid-1970s to create a Peter Max scarf designed exclusively for 4-H. The colorful design represented love, joy and health through the symbols of head, heart and hands in peaceful motion capped off with four-leaf clovers. The 28″ x 27″ scarf was made of Polyester and sold through the National 4-H Supply Service. Virginia Ogilvy, Extension clothing specialist with USDA and Fern Kelley, from the federal 4-H Extension staff, worked directly with Peter Max on the project.


Peter_Max_Scarf


 

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Fannie Buchanan
Writer of 4-H Songs

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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/

Fannie_Buchanan

Fannie Buchanan earned a degree in music from Grinnell College, Iowa. During World War I, she organized music and recreation activities with War Camp Community Service. Eventually she joined the Victor Talking Machine Company as a Rural Specialist. As she traveled, she came in more contact with 4-H members and leaders and became involved in the 4-H music program and the needs of 4-H members.

She strongly felt that one of these needs was an appreciation for music and singing. During the early 1930s Miss Buchanan authored a column on music appreciation in the National 4-H Club News magazine. She became the first Iowa State Music Extension Specialist in 1930.

Fannie Buchanan wrote the words to five 4-H songs, set to music by her college friend Rena Parish, including “The Plowing Song” dedicated to farm boys and “Dreaming” that captured the daydreams of 4-H girls that she met during her cross country travels. These two songs were introduced at the National 4-H Club Camp in 1927.

These two songs were followed by “A Song for Health” in 1929, the “4-H Friendship Song” in 1932, and “The 4-H Field Song” in 1933. The National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work (now National 4-H Council) published all five of Miss Buchanan’s songs. The members of the Federal Extension Service and National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work helped to carry her songs throughout the country and encouraged their singing by 4-H clubs. In 1941 Fannie Buchanan authored an Extension music publication entitled, “Music of the Soil.” Miss Buchanan received a citation for distinguished service at the 1941 National 4-H Club Camp and recognition at the closing assembly of the 1944 National 4-H Club Congress.

Miss Buchanan lived in Grinnell, Iowa where she died in 1957 at the age of 82.

 

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America’s Highest Scoring Air Ace in World War II was a 4-H’er

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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 following story is from the November 2015 issue of the 4-H History Preservation Newsletter

Richard_I_BongMajor Richard I. Bong grew up on a farm in Poplar, Wisconsin, as one of nine children, a member of a strong 4-H family, as noted in a feature in National 4-H Club News. While at Superior State Teachers College, Dick Bong enlisted in the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program. One of his flight instructors was Capt. Barry Goldwater (later U. S. Senator from Arizona). He received his wings and commission as second lieutenant on January 19, 1942, only weeks after the U.S. declared war on Japan. Dick Bong became the United States’ highest scoring ace, having shot down at least 40 Japanese aircraft during World War II [Surpassing Eddie Rickenbacker’s American record of 26 credited victories in World War I.] Bong was a fighter pilot in the U. S. Army Air Force and a recipient of the Medal of Honor, at a special ceremony in December, 1944, from General Douglas MacArthur.

Near the end of the war, Major Bong became a test pilot assigned to Lockheed’s Burbank, California, plant, where he flew P-80 Shooting Star jet fighters. On August 6, 1945, his plane’s primary fuel pump malfunctioned and Dick Bong was killed; news of his death shared headlines in newspapers across the country with the bombing of Hiroshima. Bong is well remembered and memorialized in several settings: the Richard Bong State Recreation Area on the old site of Bong Air Force Base in Kenosha County, Wisconsin; the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in Duluth, Minnesota; Richard I. Bong Airport and Richard I. Bong Veteran Historical Center in Superior, Wisconsin; Richard I. Bong Bridge in Townsville, Australia; Richard Bong Theater in Misawa, Japan; as well as streets and avenues with his name in Glendale, Arizona, Anchorage, Alaska, Spokane, Washington, San Antonio, Texas, Mount Holly, New Jersey, and Okinawa, Japan.

4-H Alumni Distinguished Themselves in World War II and Beyond

As we celebrate Veterans’ Day this month we would like to remember and share short stories about some of the many 4-H alumni that served their country proudly in the Armed Services. The following excerpt comes from “Wartime 4-H Support – World War II” which is currently being researched and written by the National 4-H History Preservation Leadership Team for inclusion of the website.

When the United States entered World War II in December, 1941, many older 4-H members and 4-H alumni enlisted in our country’s military services, soon to be actively serving on the battlefields and seas of the war. There were an estimated 800,000 4-H alumni in total enlisted in the war effort.

Not surprising, many of these young men and women who had grown up on farms and experienced the “can do” attitude of successful 4-H projects and activities also became some of the heroes of the war.

Knocking out Japanese at Saipan and Tinian won a promotion for Marine gunnery sergeant Marion J. Franklin, former 4-H Club president at Mount Vernon, Illinois. As a scout with the fourth Marine Division artillery, he served with forward observer parties throughout the Marines’ campaign, and was a crack shot, specializing in hunting enemy snipers. Fighting throughout the war, Marion became old enough to vote on November 11, 1944, near the end of the war.

American boys of Japanese ancestry born in Hawaii made up the celebrated 100th Hawaii Infantry Division of the United States Army and one among them was Kenneth Otagaki, former 4-H Club member with a seven-year record of poultry project experience on the Island of Molokai. A graduate of the University of Hawaii, he was an assistant in the University’s dairy department, before enlisting. He closed out the war at the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. because of combat wounds received at Cassina, where he lost a leg, an eye and several fingers.

Winner of the 100th Congressional Medal of Honor, Sgt. Oscar Godfrey Johnson, from Foster City, Michigan, was a member of the Sturgeon River Dairy Club five years and the Felch Forestry and Handicraft Clubs for each of several years. Sgt. Johnson’s citation tells a story of supreme courage. Detailed to a forward scouting battalion, his party was ambushed by Germans. All others were killed or wounded. He himself was responsible for killing 40 Germans, silencing six machine gun nests, and caring for the wounded. Later he was wounded and received the Purple Heart. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor from General Mark Clark.

The October 1945 issue of National 4-H Club News announced that Col. Creighton W. Abrams is now home in triumph in Agawam, Massachusetts. Abrams was a 4-H’er for several years, raising baby beef. During the war he served as tank battalion commander with Gen. Patton’s army. [Later, as a U. S. Army General, Abrams commanded the military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968-1972.]

 

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E. T. Meredith
Early Supporter of 4-H Brings Visibility

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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/


E.T.Meredith
 

As a teenager, Edwin Meredith worked for his grandfather’s newspaper, “The Farmers Tribune.” It was heavily in debt and the grandfather gave young Meredith controlling interest in the publication as a wedding gift, which he turned around and sold for a profit. With the proceeds, in 1902, at the age of 25, he started E. T. Meredith Publishing Company with his own publication, the “Successful Farming” magazine. Meredith Publishing Company became a publishing empire including such magazines as Better Homes and Gardens,” “Ladies Home Journal,” “Country Life,” “Family Circle” and “Parents,” plus owning a string of both radio and television stations across America.

E. N. Hopkins joined Successful Farming magazine in 1916. Already a committed enthusiast for boys and girls club work, by 1917 Hopkins had inspired E. T. Meredith to offer a $250,000 loan fund [value of over $5 million in 2015] to farm youngsters to start a business for themselves. Over the years, Meredith made over 10,000 loans to club members so they could buy purebred livestock or hybrid seed corn or any number of other farm and home project requests, pledging only their character as collateral. These low rate loans for $10, $20 or $50 were almost always paid off by the due date, if not before. The loans were always made directly to the boy or girl, not to their parents, and were officially set up as a contract between the youth and Mr. Meredith. The hundreds of stories and testimonials Mr. Meredith received from the loan recipients made him a strong supporter of boys and girls club work and its potential. Additionally, it brought the parents “on board” and served as an example picked up by hundreds of local bankers and other businessmen across the country who also started making loans directly to 4-H members.

Also, with the urging of E. N. Hopkins, Meredith Publishing started a national monthly magazine “for farm boys and girls and the federal club work,” expanding upon a youth section that had been initiated during 1916 in “Successful Farming.” Originally called “Junior Soldiers of the Soil,” the name of the original 1916 column, the new magazine’s volume 1, number 1 was issued in January 1919. The publication name quickly was changed to Farm Boys and Girls Leader and Club Achievements” by the July 1919 issue, and later on to just “Farm Boys and Girls Leader.”

The subscription publication was billed as the only paper published exclusively for farm boys and girls. The publication carried many local news stories, excellent features, and hundreds of testimonials from the young Meredith loan recipients, or from their parents, letting Mr. Meredith know what a value the loan had meant. It is believed that the September 1922 issue may have been the last one published. However, if it had not been for these issues of the Meredith Publishing magazines, much of the history of 4-H for these years would, indeed, be unknown.

Edwin T. Meredith was always interested in politics, running for statewide office in Iowa twice. During the same period as the issuing of the “Farm Boys and Girls Leader” publication, in January of 1920, Meredith became President Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of Agriculture.

Edwin T. Meredith was a strong supporter for the creation of the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work to help supplement public dollars for Extension with funding and programs from businessmen in the private sector. He served as the first president of the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work, predecessor to National 4-H Council, from 1921-1924. Meredith continued to serve as a member of the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work until 1927. Early in 1924 Meredith allowed his name to be put forward as Iowa’s favorite son at the Democratic Convention. 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.

Edwin T. Meredith, with support from staff member E. N. Hopkins, provided the young 4-H movement tremendous visibility over a relatively short period of time, and opened up doors for other support that otherwise may never had been opened. Between the Meredith loan fund and the creation of the first national publication for rural boys and girls club work, plus being Secretary of Agriculture and the first president of the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work, he brought public relations and visibility of 4-H to a whole new level. The Meredith Foundation and the Meredith family continue support of 4-H today at state and national levels.

 

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4-H Girls Exhibit at First Woman’s World Fair in 1925

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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/

Women's Worlds Fair, 1925 Souvenir Program

Women’s Worlds Fair, 1925 Souvenir Program

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. The fair, which highlighted women’s achievements in art, commerce and industry, attracted more than 200,000 visitors. The fair was the brainchild of Helen Bennett, author of “Women and Work,” and a pioneer of the women’s movement. In an age when women in the workplace were still considered a novelty, she was demanding comparable pay for comparable work. In the Women’s Republican Club of Chicago Bennett found kindred spirits to support her pioneering ideas – including the Woman’s World Fair. The fair was officially opened by President Coolidge by radio, at that time an almost unheard of feat.

The 4-H Club Girl’s exhibit at the Woman’s World Fair was in the form of a miniature household worked out in accordance with 4-H standards for Home Decoration. Miss Maude E. Wallace, Asst. State Home Demonstration agent, North Carolina, was in charge and Inez Harden, National 4-H health champion from Mississippi, Veva Divan, Wisconsin’s champion club girl and third in the national Leadership contest, and Beulah Rogers, member of the National Champion Canning team who won the trip to France in 1922, were present to demonstrate what 4-H Girls’ club work means to American farm womanhood. The exhibit was made possible by courtesy of Montgomery Ward & Company.

What the fair proposed – that women question their traditional role in society, discover themselves and seek employment if they so desired – may be commonplace today, but to the women of the 1920’s, it was quite new and radical. For 4-H to have been involved is just another one of those little nuggets of history that always comes as a surprise.

 

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Looking for Fletcher the 4-H’er

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The following story is from the October 2015 issue of the 4-H History Preservation Newsletter

The National 4-H History Preservation team is looking for information and graphics relating to Fletcher the 4-H’er comic strip appearing in the 1960s and 1970s and written by Joe Bursch, cartoonist initially with Walt Disney. We are seeking the history of this comic strip: how was it initiated? Who was behind it? When and how long did it run? We are also looking for any copies of the comic strip. Currently, we have none.

If you can help us with any of the above information on Fletcher, please let us know at Info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

 

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Historical Stories of 4-H Promotion

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First National Poster bearing the 4-H Clover in 1924.

First National Poster bearing the 4-H Clover in 1924.

The National Compendium of 4-H Promotion and Visibility is a history project started a year ago and placed on the National 4-H History Preservation Program website earlier this year. It is one of this year’s priority activities for those National 4-H History Team members working on the website.

Rather than being a chronology of 4-H promotion history, the Compendium is a collection of short stories, so far gleaned mostly from historical issues of National 4-H News, covering a broad array of national approaches to 4-H promotion, marketing, public relations and branding. Added to this are anecdotes, some from the local level but which received national visibility, that are simply special vignettes that should not be lost to history. These stories are often the ones which convey the true meaning of what 4-H is all about: chronicles of inspiration, of achievement, leadership, and goals; accounts of failures and having the strength, ability, and desire to pick oneself up and try again.

As one of the major sponsors of 4-H National Youth Science Day in 2009, DuPont provided some extra visibility extending to a massive audience; in the NASCAR circuit, the DuPont-sponsored car driven by Jeff Gordon prominently carried the 4-H emblem with the 4-H.org website on the back of the vehicle.

As one of the major sponsors of 4-H National Youth Science Day in 2009, DuPont provided some extra visibility extending to a massive audience; in the NASCAR circuit, the DuPont-sponsored car driven by Jeff Gordon prominently carried the 4-H emblem with the 4-H.org website on the back of the vehicle.

This Promotion Compendium is meant to document and preserve these stories of 4-H history before they get lost. It has immense value as a resource tool for new professional and volunteer staff development. Even more important, perhaps, it is also offered as a collection of short stories to be read for inspiration and enjoyment.

As of August, 2015, the National Compendium of Promotion and Visibility had over 160 stories posted, and over 150 photos or illustrations. The Compendium is an ongoing project with stories being researched and added regularly. While most of these stories illustrate national 4-H promotion history, if you have a story from the state or local level which received national publicity, please tell us about it. We will consider it for inclusion in the Compendium. Write to Info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

 

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4-H and Radio: Early Days Growing Up Together

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The following story is from the February 2014 issue of the 4-H History Preservation Newsletter
Carroll Brannon, Clemson, South Carolina, the Moses Leadership trophy winner at the 1930 National 4-H Club Congress, during an NBC interview (from November 1937 National 4-H Club News

Carroll Brannon, Clemson, South Carolina, the Moses Leadership trophy winner at the 1930 National 4-H Club Congress, during an NBC interview (from November 1937 National 4-H Club News

When the National Committee on Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work (now National 4-H Council) was started in late 1921, it basically consisted of a staff of one person – Guy Noble – working at a “desk on loan” in the Chicago headquarters offices of the American Farm Bureau, with the assistance of a part-time secretary (also on loan). In addition to the overwhelming burden of raising funds in unchartered waters and, planning and managing the major national 4-H event, National 4-H Congress, Guy Noble also knew that it was critical to promote the concept of 4-H to broader audiences if it was to grow.

As early as 1922, before it was even a year old, the National Committee on Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work became a radio pioneer. Arrangements were made that year with the Westinghouse Radio Service of Chicago for news of Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work to be presented each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 PM. In 1922 there were only 30 radio stations in the country and a quarter million receiver sets scattered across the nation.

The decades of the 1920s and 1930s became a growth period for both radio and for 4-H together. At one point all the major radio networks were carrying 4-H radio programs. And, there was the National 4-H Music Hour on NBC which featured the United States Marine Corps Band and highlighted music appreciation for young people. The National 4-H News magazine carried a regular column of upcoming radio programs in their monthly publication.

David Sarnoff, president of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), and one of the corporate giants in the communications industry, partnered with 4-H. He became a board member of the National Committee on Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work and RCA would become a national sponsor, funding a new activity for 4-H Club leaders and members. It was the National Program on Social Progress which helped to train and encourage 4-H members and adults in their communities to make the community more pleasant and improve the quality of living. This included: being more “neighborly,” and more resourceful, as well as stressing more education and creative community social activities. The program placed heavy emphasis on using the radio for communications.

By the 1930s, many rural stations were hiring farm broadcasters; first to announce the grain and livestock markets each day, but then to support rural community activities and events. Four-H fit nicely into this pattern as well; with farm broadcasters becoming strong friends of 4-H. At the same time Extension at every level – federal, state and county – were embracing the use of radio. A decade later, by the end of the 40s, over half of the radio stations in the country were regularly carrying Extension programs, including much coverage of 4-H. The radio was playing in the house, the barn, the car; no longer a novelty, it was a part of our everyday lives.

A new segment – 4-H and Radio – has just been posted in the National 4-H History section of the 4-H History Preservation website. We hope you enjoy it. Take a look at it at: http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/Radio/. If you have comments about 4-H and radio please contact: Info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com.

 

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