Category Archives: Site News

We’ve Moved . . .

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The 4-H History Preservation and 4-H History Preservation News has moved to a new hosting provider. Our new provider offers better service and more options than the previous one.

In general, you shouldn’t notice any difference in site appearance. We will soon be adding the site to the CloudFlare content distribution network. The CloudFlare service will literally copy the site to their network of servers around the globe. When you access a page, CloudFlare will deliver it up from the server in your geographic region thereby speeding up response times.

With regard to the new service, there is one change for you to make on your side. If you have a bookmark or favorite that points to 4-HHistoryPreservation.com/News, please change it to News.4-HHistoryPreservation.com The old link is set up to automatically take you to the new one.

4-H and 1-Room Country Schools

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Old Country School, circa 1905

Boys and Girls Club Work (4-H… or, 3-H) was an integral part of the public school system in many counties during the early 1900’s.

While county school superintendents are credited with starting the 4-H program in many parts of the country, it truly was a grassroots movement which seemed to start in a number of different locations. While the “process” was quite different from one location to another, the “players” were often the same – county school superintendents, 1-room country school teachers, the state land-grant colleges and experimental stations. We are basically talking here about the history of one brief decade – from 1900 to 1910.

The land-grant colleges and the national educational groups were already on board since the 1890’s, but for different reasons. The colleges wanted to disseminate their latest research and improved practices to the farmers by exposing and training their young sons and daughters to hybrid seed corn, milk sanitation, more safe canning procedures and so on. The educators wanted to involve teachers in training more than the 3 R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic), involving more practical education and manual training.

In fact, M. Buisson of the French Ministry of Education, speaking at the International Congress of Education at Chicago on July 26, 1893, said: “Let the school teach, we say, what is most likely to prepare the child to be a good citizen, an intelligent and active man… Not by the means of the three R’s, but rather by the means of the three H’s – head, heart and hand – and make him fit for self government, self control and self-help, a living, a thinking being.”

From an educational standpoint, this was an exciting decade at every level, but perhaps no more exciting anywhere than to the early pioneers promoting the 3 H’s. This new segment – 4-H and 1-Room Country Schools – just posted on the National 4-H History website in the National 4-H History section, tells the stories of many of these early efforts. We welcome your comments at: Info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com.

Read more at http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/1-Room_Schools/
 

4-H Audio-Visual Directory Now on 4-H History Website

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The first 4-H films were produced before the 1920s. A new directory on the national 4-H history preservation website lists all types of audio and visual recordings and the 4-H history preservation team is currently in the process of locating and digitizing many of the entries, making them available to the general public.

Over 160 entries have already been posted 0 films, video tapes, radio and television public service spots, television series, audio and video interviews. If you know of locations of 4-H material that should be included, we would like to hear from you. Write: info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

To check out the A/V directory go to: http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com and “click” on 4-H Reference Materials in the left-hand menu bar.

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4-H History Website has Visitor Counter

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The 4-H History Preservation website added a visitor counter to the site on September 10, 2011 so now at the bottom of all main pages you can see how many visitors came to the site from each state, as well as other countries. During the first week 45 states were represented.

We urge all visitors to consider adding the history website – http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com – to your website as a link. If you know of friends or colleagues who you feel would find the site interesting, please let them know about it.

Help preserve 4-H history… the foundation of our future.

To contact the 4-H History Preservation team:
info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

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4-H History Preservation Website Update

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The National 4-H History Preservation team reports that “our history website – http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com – went live in March of 2010 and continues to grow. The 4-H History Books and References section, starting out with six books listed, now has over 500 entries and we are in the process of getting many of these digitized for ready access by our site visitors.”

The two major history books on 4-H – by Franklin Reck and by Tom and Marilyn Wessel – are now available in digital format, as well as various manuals, newsletter, annual reports and magazines.

Under the National 4-H History segment on the website, nearly 100 sections have been identified and over half of these are either completed or in the process of being researched and written. Some of these history sections are extensive with over 100 pages, and hopefully will become a major history resource to the 4-H community. The history of the National 4-H Supply Service is the latest section to go live. Some of the other sections that are currently being worked on include sections on lthe history of the National 4-H Awards Programs, International 4-H Programs, National 4-H Fund Raising, National 4-H Congress, National 4-H Service Committee, National 4-H Television Series and the National 4-H Calendar Porgram.

The History team adds, “we have a growing list of 4-H history volunteer consultants who are helping us document the history. We welcome your assistance if there are history sections in which you may have a special interest or were a participant!

Write: info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

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New 4-H History Section on Website

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A new general 4-H history section has been added to the 4-H History Preservation website.

To get to the section directly go to:
http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/Hist_Nat/

The section gives a brief overview of 4-H history with photos, plus live links to the two major 4-H history books and links to other history segments on the history preservation website.

Any questions or comments can be sent to: info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

History of National 4-H Supply Service now Online

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The 4-H History Preservation website has a new section on the history of the National 4-H Supply Service.

Located at: http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/Supply_Service the section provides the history of the Supply Service starting with the early 1920’s and also includes links to several of the National 4-H Supply Catalogs and to the 4-H Handy Books, the predecessor to the Supply Catalog from the 1920s and 1930s. Reviewing the pages of these handy books and catalogs give an interesting perspective of the hundreds of items offered with the 4-H emblem on them.

From Nationla 4-H History Preservation Program. info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com

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1935 History Book by Hinshaw now digitized on 4-H History Website

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The book, “4-H: A Story” by Kenneth Hinshaw, written in 1935, has been digitized and now apperas in the Book and References section on the 4-H History Preservation website at: http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com

The book, which is nearly 300 pages in length, is a story weaving together actual 4-H experiences, historical sketches of Boys’ and Girls’ 4-H Club work, and chronicles of important 4-H events.

The author, Kenneth Hinshaw, was a national 4-H Leadership awards program winner at National 4-H Congress in 1926 and a Moses Trophy winner as the top winner in that program.

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