“Voices of 4-H History” Opens Doors for Hawaii 4-H

4-HHPP_2015_02_Pg5In 2014, two Youth-Adult Partnership teams consisting of two teens and one adult participated in the “Voices of 4-H History” project for Hawaii.

According to Joan Chong, HI Extension service, the teams from Kona and Maui participated in a basic training that covered interview questions and techniques, project design and management, pre-production, filming, and camera techniques.

Because of training time constraints, the teams were also encouraged to connect with the local Community Access Television (CAT) to assist in editing and piecing the video together, and CAT was happy to help out. They offered classes in basic video production, camera operation, editing, lighting and studio production. Once the participants became certified producers at the CAT studios, the use of the television equipment and facilities were FREE! All the Youth-Adult Partnership teams needed to do was ask for help. When asked about the project, we found that youth participants not only learned video production but also gained knowledge about 4-H and the effect it has had on others.

 Here are a few quotes from the youth:

  • “I felt that this project allowed me to experience what it felt like to be a part of 4-H many years ago. Through their stories, I can see how 4-H shaped people’s lives and how it helped 4-H’ers to ‘make the best, better!’”
  • “The best part of participating in this project was being able to learn more about 4-H and its history. I also learned a new skill of how to edit videos on the computer. I enjoyed meeting new people and learned how much 4-H meant to them.”
  • “It opened my eyes and gave me a better understanding of 4-H. It was heart-warming to listen to their experiences. Times were so different, yet very similar in many ways.”
  • “It provided us with so many learning opportunities. Several of the people we interviewed told us how much it meant to them to have their story told.”

 One Adult participant shared observations as well:

“Participating in this project provided me with the opportunity to have a Youth-Adult partnership; it was a unique experience working side-by-side with the youth. It was not a top-down partnership where I needed to tell them what to do, but a collaboration of working together and equally contributing ideas. Although it was very interesting to hear how 4-H has changed (or not) over the years, it really was dependent on the perspective of the person being interviewed as their experiences and involvement in 4-H varied.”

History Preservation Newsletter
February 2015

Booker T Washington School on Wheels

This National Archive photo of Booker T Washington’s “School on Wheels” depicts one of the early innovations of the 1890 Institutions which took education to the rural areas.

February is National Black History Month, so what better lead than a feature on the 125th anniversary of the creation of the 1890 Universities, those educational institutions created to serve the country’s African-American population. Important 4-H programs were delivered from those schools before integration and continue today.
National 4-H Week was created in 1945 – but in March instead of October – with the theme “Head, Heart, Hands and Health for Victory!” It’s not too early to start contacting local media to feature 4-H (and 4-H history) this fall as well as any time during the year.

In 1930, Fort Worth 4-H girls featured “Secrets of Feminine Charm” in a stock show booth. Do you think they could convince women to use an apple as a skin softener, or milk as a vanishing cream?

The National 4-H History Preservation Website unveils its newest informative chapter: a Compendium of 4–H Promotion and Visibility stories which delight and educate. These are vignettes from history files of the myriad ways 4-H promoted itself from local communities up to the national and international levels. It’s pleasant reading.

“Voices of 4-H History” continues with Hawaii as its newest participant; the 2015 National 4-H FilmFest screens in June; University of Tennessee Collegiate 4-H joins the effort to preserve the history of campus 4-H clubs – and much more in this issue.

Whether you’re snowed in, being blown around by heavy winds, slogging through driving rain or basking in the warming sun (all of which are possible in February), we hope you enjoy this issue.

Goecke Takes International

The following story is from the National Compendium of 4-H Promotion and Visibility on the National 4-H History website — http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/4-H_Promotion/

1928_Livestock

Goecke “Takes” International

Clarence Goecke, a 12-year-old 4-H member from State Center, Iowa exhibited the grand champion steer at the 1928 International Live Stock Exposition – the largest livestock show in the world. This is the first time a 4-H member’s animal had topped the show – the first such victory in history – causing headlines across the country.

Adult showmen used to give their junior rivals a patronizing glance, but after Goecke’s win, they eyed them with concern. Not only did Goecke’s steer – named “Dick” – win the show, but the animal was knocked down on the auction block for $7. a pound. The previous high price, paid in 1926, was $3.60 a pound. The purchaser in 1928 was the J. C. Penney Company, New York. The youthful owner saw his pet, which he had raised from a calf, auctioned off with solemn face despite the fact that the price paid meant he would receive more than $8,000. in addition to over $1,000. prize money he already had received. The below photo shows young Clarence Goecke on the left, James C. Penney in the center, and Emma Goecke, Clarence’s sister and an employee of the local Penney store in Iowa, on the right.

1975 National 4-H Calendar Art Given to National 4-H Council

Jim Kahler, founding member of the National 4-H History Preservation Leadership Team, recently presented to National 4-H Council an original painting produced for a National 4-H Calendar in 1975. Receiving the gift were Jennifer Sirangelo, Council President and CEO, and Paul Koehler, SVP and General Manager of the 4-H Conference Center. It is now one of 36 such paintings in the collection being preserved and displayed at the Center.

The newest calendar art painting in the National 4-H Collection features 4-H’ers in the very popular photography project.

The newest calendar art painting in the National 4-H Collection
features 4-H’ers in the very popular photography project.

About two years ago the History Team was documenting and cataloging the original calendar art at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center. We know there are pieces that were produced but never given to the Center. as we were trying to date some of the pieces Jim went online to see if he could find any information about one of the undated pieces. He related the following to National 4-H Heritage Club members and 2014 Hall of Fame Laureates at a recent Council luncheon: “I came across this 4-H calendar painting for sale on e-bay; I shared it with the team, but no one had known about this particular piece. The sale price was quite high, so I continued to check it for months hoping the seller would lower the price. At one point, the painting disappeared from the web, and I thought perhaps it had been sold, but I continued to check the site just in case.

Before long it was back as an auction item at a much lower starting price. I again notified the team, and we discussed how we might be able to bid on it. In the end, I decided that this would be my opportunity to make a personal contribution to our cause, as others on the team had already made significant donations. I placed a bid just as the auction was closing and was successful — I was the only bidder! The art was painted for the 1975 4-H Calendar produced by Brown and Bigelow.”

The artist is the well-known American illustrator, Mayo Olmstead, who also produced the art of Olympian Bruce Jenner that appeared on Wheaties boxes across America several years ago. Olmstead was hired by Brown and Bigelow Calendar and Advertising Company of St. Paul, Minnesota to paint 4-H calendar art. The Council collection has two other undated calendar paintings done by him for Brown and Bigelow.

If you know of any old National 4-H Calendars or original art pieces, please contact the History Team  at info@National4-HHistoryPreservation.com

Using 4-H History to Strengthen the Future of the Program

Round_History_LogoWhen the National 4-H History Preservation leadership team explains why we are researching and documenting 4-H history to a current state or county Extension staff member, often we use the phrase: “the more you know about the history of 4-H, the better you can understand your current position and do a better job in the future.” Most of our 80+ volunteers in the national history preservation program are retired from a career in 4-H and all sincerely believe this to be true.Throughout the 100+ years of 4-H, professionals have always been out there on the cutting edge with experiential learning. The programs may be new. The audiences may be more diverse. The needs may be different. But the underlying principles of 4-H in many ways have remained the same and will continue because they have been time-tested and they work!

The history preservation team has a goal of making accessible as much of the national 4-H history as possible to everyone through the 4-H history preservation website and 4-H history outreach programs. Coupled with this is our hope that an understanding of the importance of 4-H history – and of history itself – will become an integral part of every state and county orientation program for new Extension 4-H staff, 4-H Foundation staff and other program supporters. Hopefully, the information provided through the National 4-H History Preservation program will help you to accomplish that goal.

Please let us know what information on the history website you have used and whether there is information you are seeking that does not yet appear on the site. Share your stories of how you’ve used the website to conduct new staff training in your state or county at info@4-HistoryPreservation.com .

Taken from the “Preserving 4-H History” section of the 4-H history website:

http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com/History/Preserving.asp

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4-H History Website Visitors

4-HHistoryPreservation.com Visitor TallyThree years ago on September 10, 2011, the National 4-H History Preservation website started using a visitor counter. This counter does not tally up “hits” on the site, but displays the actual number of visitors to the site. Your History website has had over 78,000 visitors from the United States with California residents visiting 5,373 times, followed by Ohio with 4,174 and Texas with 3,900. International visitors came from 147 countries! We’re proud of this outreach as it indicates that people are interested in 4-H History, and we look forward to increasing those numbers in the next few months.

We encourage states which have 4-H websites to help promote 4-H history to visitors to your local site by adding a link to the national history site. Graphic link banners are available at

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


4-H and PBS in Montana Cooperate on History Project

In 2011, Montana 4-H began the process of celebrating its 2012 Centennial. The Montana team developed a Centennial Guide for the counties, including a 4-H Heritage Family program. Each county prepared a Centennial Display documenting their county’s 4-H History, and the displays traveled to several statewide events during the yearlong celebration.

Montana 4-H worked with Montana PBS to produce a television documentary: “4-H — Six Montana Stories.” Youth completed applications to be considered to take part in the project; six youth and their families were selected, who were followed through a 4-H year and also captured footage themselves. View the documentary online at: http://watch.montanapbs.org/video/2260061763/

The premier took place at Montana 4-H Congress. In addition, “Heritage Project,” an excellent heritage project book, was developed providing dozens of great suggestions for successful youth 4-H history projects.

4-H History Preservation Website and My Welcome to the World of 4-H

Credit: Story by Chad N. Proudfoot, WV State 4-H Staff

In the spring of 2012, I was still relatively new to the Extension Service and very new to the world of 4-H as I had originally been hired in Extension’s Community Resources & Economic Development unit. So, when I was asked to teach the Heritage Class at Older 4-H Members’ Conference (OMC – one of our three major state camps for 14-21 year olds), I was both excited and terrified. I had not grown up in 4-H, and a year before this I could not have told anyone what the four Hs even stood for; now I was being asked to teach a two-hour class for four days at a major camp. “These kids will eat me alive!” was my first thought, but then I began looking for resources to plan my lessons.

I had learned that Heritage Class had become a little stale in the past couple of years, where students made small heritage crafts and the like, and it was not very exciting. I also learned that the mission of OMC is to develop leadership, so I decided to take a new approach with the class. I wanted to focus on a different topic each day, and for there to be meaningful discussion with those in the class.

As I was putting my ideas together, I spoke with our state 4-H leader, Debbie McDonald, who was very supportive of my thoughts for a revamped Heritage Class. She gave me a card for the National 4-H History Preservation Team, and suggested that I look at their website for guidance. When I looked online, I could hardly believe all of the amazing resources that came pouring out! I was able to develop the four topical days regarding the history of 4-H and music in the 4-H program just from what I found on the website.

My favorite use of the site came from the section on 4-H films. I decided to make the final day of my Heritage Class into “movie day,” because the campers were tired and needed some time to relax. But I also determined that our movie must fit our goals, and that we would have a discussion. The 4-H History Preservation website lead me to the film “The Green Promise” staring Walter Brennan and Natalie Wood. When I previewed it, I found the film to be a bit dated, but I thought that it still had a great message, could certainly be used for programming, and might be something that the Heritage Class participants would enjoy.

PIC_019

Robert Paige inducts child star Natalie Wood as a member of 4-H in “The Green Promise,” a Glenn McCarthy production for R-K-O release in which Marguerite Chapman and Walter Brennan co-star.

I could never have dreamed how much the kids in my class loved and appreciated this film! They hung on every word, and when it was through they had a great discussion about the film’s message, the time period in which it was made, what about it was relevant or not relevant to today, and a host of other topics. I could not have been more excited. It was at the end of that week that I knew 4-H was the right place for me.

A few months after that class, the Extension Service moved my appointment to the 4-H Youth Development Unit as the Cultural Resource Specialist, and I became the first full-time Extension Historian and the Historic Preservation Officer of Jackson’s Mill State 4-H Camp.

Now I use the National 4-H History Preservation website on a regular basis, and it is one of the first resources to which I point anyone when they are looking for any aspect of 4-H history. I have used the site to develop curriculum, write flag ceremonies, and to allow others to appreciate all of the culture and heritage that is enveloped in the 100+ years of the 4-H program. As a new member of the 4-H family, I now proudly say the 4-H Pledge, sing “The H’s Four,” and use the myriad resources available to promote the heritage of the best youth development program the world has ever seen.

4-H’ers Honor Smith and Lever During Second World War

During this centennial year of the passage of the Smith-Lever Act creating the Cooperative Extension Service, it is appropriate to recall one 4-H activity recognizing the creation of that legislation from 70 years ago.

Midway in the Second World War, the Extension Service in cooperation with the Maritime Commission worked out a unique incentive to 4-H achievement on the home front. It was proposed that states be permitted to name Liberty ships after a 4-H or Extension pioneer as a reward for bond sales and exceptional service in food production and conservation.
Liberty ships were the cargo carriers of the war. They were standardized freighters, 441 feet long and of 10,800 tons capacity. They carried food stuffs and war materials abroad, and brought back such scarce items as chrome ore, balsa wood, copper, rubber, ivory, manganese, jute, burlap, hides, tea, coffee and quinine. They cost about $2 million apiece and this was the goal of the 4-H bond sales.

In response to the “Name-A-Ship” campaign, the state 4-H youth intensified their war activities. Georgia club members raised almost $10 million in a war bond campaign and produced in one season enough food to fill a 10,000 ton ship. Their ship was launched and duly named “Hoke Smith,” in honor of the Senator who, as member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, co-sponsored the Smith-Lever Act.
In South Carolina, similar efforts resulted in the launching of the “A. Frank Lever,” thus commemorating on the high seas the other congressional sponsor of the original Extension Act, Representative Asbury Francis Lever, a member of the House Committee on Agriculture.

In all, 40 ships were christened in these 4-H “Name-A-Ship” campaigns. In the cabin of each ship was placed a plaque stating that the ship was named by 4-H club members of the state, and near the plaque was a history of the man for whom the ship was named, written on parchment and permanently mounted under glass.

World War II Liberty ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien at Pier 45, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California

World War II Liberty ship SS Jeremiah O’Brien at Pier 45, Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, California

SS John W. Brown on the Great Lakes in 2000

SS John W. Brown on the Great Lakes in 2000

“Their Fightin’est Indian 4-H Club Called the Most Patriotic Outfit in Oklahoma”

Riverside Indian 4-H Club members rehearsing for one of their dance numbers. L. to R. Beatrice Tahmalikera, Billie Tonpahhote, Lucy White Horse, Lee Monett Tsatoke, Myrtle Ann Beaver and David Joinkeen. (National 4-H News June 1943)

Riverside Indian 4-H Club members rehearsing for one of their dance numbers. L. to R. Beatrice Tahmalikera, Billie Tonpahhote, Lucy White Horse, Lee Monett Tsatoke, Myrtle Ann Beaver and David Joinkeen. (National 4-H News June 1943)

A new section on Native America 4-H History has been added to the National 4-H History Preservation website. It is located in the National 4-H History section at: http://4-HHistoryPresevation.com  The section includes a number of feature stories out of National 4-H News. The story with the above title was in the June 1943 issue… during World War II, over 70 years ago.

“One fourth of the 52,000 youth enrolled Oklahoma 4-H clubs in 1943, according to State Leader Paul G. Adams, are Indian youth. Some of the finest state winners Oklahoma has sent to the National 4-H Congress have been of Indian descent, he adds. “Win the war now, smoke the peace pipe later,” is the slogan of 4-H Indians in the Sooner State.

“According to county agent L. I. Bennett, they’re the hardest fighting group of warriors in the country. All members of the Indian Riverside 4-H Club — the largest all-Indian 4-H Club in the state — with their 4-H club projects, they’re helping Uncle Sam furnish food to the boys on the firing lines. They have a keen interest in seeing that food gets to the front because 18 Club members of their fellow tribesmen have joined the Army, Navy or Marines since Pearl Harbor. “You’ll never find a more patriotic group of young people than these 4-H club Indians,” contends Bennett. As the older boys join the armed forces their projects have been taken over by younger members of the club and carried to completion. The girls can foods produced in the club’s Victory gardens.

“In addition to growing food, members of the Riverside Club are just as active in other 4-H project areas. At the State Round-Up Andew Pahmahmie placed in the blue ribbon class in the State 4-H Style Dress Revue contest. Bernice Paddlety and Alva Mae Tapedo won a gold medal with their dairy demonstration at the State contest, Ruth Sardongei and Alva Walker won trips to the American Royal at Kansas City for placing first with their paint demonstration, and Luke Tainpeah and Tom Kauley were blue ribbon winners in the poultry demonstration contest. At the Caddo County Fair 53 of the clubs girls made exhibits, winning a total of 82 ribbons.

“‘Thanks for America’ was the main theme of their Achievement Week last December to climax the year’s work. Instead of holding an achievement banquet as many clubs stage at the end of the year, this Indian Club celebrated their 1943 achievements in typical Indian style by setting aside an entire week for their achievement program. Each of the five daily programs staged were centered around one of the “H’s” in the club emblem, and one for home. One day the training of the head was stressed, another day, the heart, then the hands, health, and then the home.”

We welcome additional stories about Native American 4-H clubs, projects and activities as well as printed articles, reports, leaflets and books on the topic. Please write: info@4-HHistoryPreservation.com