History of 4-H Club Work in Alaska added to Print Archive

Boys and girls 4-H club work in Alaska began on July 1, 1930 when W. A. Lloyd of the Extension Service, U.S.D.A., Washington, D.C., visited Alaska and organized the Extension Service of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines.

The history of 4-H in Alaska from 1930 through 1947 has been posted in the Books & Printed Materials Archives, in PDF form,  on the National 4-H History Preservation website under the section entitled “Pamphlets.”

Invitation to Friends of 4-H History

4-H History will be featured at the Galaxy IV Conference in Pittsburgh Sept 17-19, 2013.Please join us and visit the National 4-H History Preservation Program’s booth #814, Tuesday Noon – Thursday noon, September 17-19, in the David Lawrence Convention Center Exhibit Hall.  Come by to learn how counties are recruiting 4-H youth and adults to become part of the 100th year celebration of Smith-Lever support to Cooperative Extension.  Award-winning youth-produced “Voices of 4-H History” films will be shown all during the Exhibit Hall hours.“Voices of 4-H History” will be featured during Poster Session 3 on Thursday, September 19, from 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM in area R-18.  Author interaction times are scheduled from 8:00 – 9:00 AM and 10:30 – 11:30 AM.  “Voices of Extension Service History” will be featured during Poster Session 3 on Thursday, September 19 from 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM in poster area L10.  Author interaction times are scheduled from 8:00 – 9:00 AM and 10:30 – 11:30 AM.  Please join us, and encourage others from your state and county to visit with us at one of these locations during the 2013 Galaxy IV conference in Pittsburgh.

Smith-Lever Act Centennial

Voice of 4-H History Poster2014 is the Centennial of the Smith-Lever Act, which provided federal funding for the Cooperative Extension Service and, thereby, 4-H programs nationwide.  To mark this significant milestone, the National 4-H History Preservation Program is debuting “Voices of Extension History,” drawing on the success of “Voices of 4-H History.”  The program is rolling out at the GALAXY IV Conference in Pittsburgh, September 15-19.  With all Extension professional associations meeting together, it’s a perfect place to illustrate how 4-H’ers, rapidly learning to document 4-H History through our own “Voices” project, can record and broadcast the vitally important impact made on America’s development by the Cooperative Extension Service.  4-H members are now producing “4-H History” films; from here, they can extend their reach to “Extension History” and document that meaningful impact.Besides news about our participation n GALAXY IV, this month’s Newsletter encourages linking the myriad 4-H History websites, records the dedication of Danforth Court’s “American Girl” statue, includes fun activities to honor the historic legacy of 4-H songs, and seeks help with the Report to the Nation Team.  How can you not click to enter?

4-H National History Preservation Newsletter…

National Archives Historical Materials

National Archives has 70 boxes of historical 4-H materials which need to be further reviewed and cataloged, with many items digitized. These boxed treasures range in topics from “Music in 4-H” to “4-H and War Programs” to “Urban 4-H.” The National 4-H History Preservation Leadership Team plans to review this cache in the coming year. Would you like to help? Fascinating research opportunities available! Contact Info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com.

Local Leaders! Without you …

“Local Leaders! Without You, 4-H Club Work as we Know it Would Not Exist!” proclaimed the July/August, 1938, National 4-H Club News, as it honored the contribution of 4-H volunteers. In the July, 1919, Farm Boys’ and Girls’ Leader and Club Achievements, an article featured accomplished 4-H members from Port Washington, OH, and Dallas County, IA, who went on to become valued volunteer leaders. This month’s “Hands-On History” suggestion is to interview local volunteer leaders and document the contributions they make to the strength of 4-H. Since 1938, the then-100,000 volunteer leader force has increased five-fold to serve six million 4-H members.

Poster_1956_Leaders

This 1956 National 4-H Calendar recognizes 4-H Leaders

Hot August Summer – “Cool” 4-H Happenings!

Hot August Summer – “Cool” 4-H Happenings!
One of the “coolest” happenings this hot August was the National 4-H FilmFest in Branson, MO; something we can legitimately call “Contemporary 4-H History.” For the first time, this year’s line-up of 38 “youth-made” films from eight states included a category of “4-H History.” Four states (MO, SC, UT, and VT) submitted in the History category. Jordon Bolinger of SC, the only history winner able to attend 4-H Filmfest this year, won third place in the 4-H History category with her “4-H Camp Sew” film. Read further for the first and second place winners.
VT and UT took slightly different approaches to document “Voices of 4-H History.” In VT, the Champlain Shamrocks 4-H Club used http://FrontPorchForum.com to identify people they wanted to interview, and used Windows Movie Maker for the editing. Their film, “Voices of VT 4-H History” took second place in the National 4-H FilmFest. UT members dug into their personal family histories for stories and used iMovie to edit. Amanda Jones’s “4-H History Preservation – LaRee Jones” (her grandmother) won first place at Branson. Are you thinking of entering a 4-H History film in the 2014 FilmFest? Contact Info@4-HistoryPreservation.com

Receive the National 4-H History Preservation Newsletter

If you enjoy reading about 4-H history, or know someone who would be interested in receiving the National 4-H History Preservation Newsletter, it now is very easy to sign up for it. Go to the history website – http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com and click on Home & News in the left hand menu bar, then click on Newsletter, where you can sign up online.

Contact the National 4-H History Preservation Team at: info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

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4-H Quote – 4-H Contributes More

“I’m not aware of any youth program anywhere that contributes more to the training for future leadership and to give constructive activity to young people than 4-H” – Joseph “Joe” Robbie, General Manager and Owner of the Miami Dolphins and 1986 National 4-H Alumni winner.

From National 4-H History Preservation program. http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com info@historypreservation.com

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Help Needed with History of Urban 4-H Programs

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 Films Needed for Digitizing

The National 4-H History Preservation leadership team has over 100 4-H films currently listed in our A/V Archive on the 4-H History Preservation Website at http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/Media_AV.asp but we have only a
very few of these films that have been located and digitized. Originally, when released, many of these films were either sent to State 4-H Offices or to regional extension film libraries. If you know of the locations of old films or videos in your state, we would like to get the name and email or phone number of the best person to contact to see if we can borrow them for digitizing, or have them digitize the films at our expense. Please let us know at: info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

From National 4-H History Preservation Program. http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com