In 1909 North Carolina witnessed the dawning of new technologies in agriculture. Spearheaded
by a charge from the US Department of Agriculture for states to improve farming practices.
And it was felt that in order to introduce new technology it might be easier to do it
through young people who are a little more receptive to new things than the adults were.
And so it began that way. It was first called the corn club. They were trying to introduce
a hybrid corn as a way and so they got the young people to use hybrid corn and the adults
were receptive to it. After seeing the success of boys and their
corn crops—ones that often out-produced their parents' crops many times over-- these
new corn varieties soon took root across the state. The first corn club program director,
Ira Schaub and his successor Thomas Brown then expanded the club to include poultry,
pigs and livestock. 4-H members were known to try new things on
an acre of corn or some other crop. And then generally speaking the farmers of that neighborhood
would probably follow what they saw through the 4-H projects. So they were really kind
of innovators and really didn't know it (laughs) That same innovative spirit brewed in girls
as well. Jane McKimmon, for whom the McKimmon Center on NC State's campus is named, led
the first tomato canning clubs and the Home Demonstration program for the state. Here
girls learned about food preservation, cooking and sewing.
In 1914 Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act which provided federal money for state cooperative
extension services to enhance work in agriculture and home economics. The North Carolina Cooperative
Extension Service was headquartered at the state's two land-grant universities—North
Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University. In the 1920s, L.R. Harrill
united the boys clubs and the girls clubs and the group officially became 4-H.
During both World Wars 4-H'ers used their skills to support food production on the homefront…
growing victory gardens and participating in the national Feed A Fighter campaign.
we had victory gardens and scrap iron drives during the world wars. And I think 4-H has
always responded to sort of the needs of the nation as well as those of the community.
As North Carolina became more urban, 4-H broadened its programs to include areas like photography,
fashion, horses and science. 4-H was in the schools. So your extension
agents and things would come around to the schools. They would probably come about once
a month. we participated in the public speaking contest. We did demonstrations. and of course
we did community service projects and things like that. It was just wonderful.
Until 1965 4-H across the country had been two separate programs- one for white students
and one for blacks. camp Mitchell as we know it today, was the
camp where African American young people went. Cut to: So you had people like… John Mitchell
who was very instrumental in helping to negotiate that particular area. They established a foundation
to help support the club. And then you had people like Bill Cooper that actually worked
w/ putting the program together there at Mitchell that made it a wonderful experience
My children was crazy about the camp and we would raise money for them to go to camp.
We would sell candy, cookies. And I would go along with them and we really had a good
time. just as in other communities, I feel that
4-H in the African American community actually just opened a number of doors of opportunity
for young people to enhance their knowledge and learn the skills that would enable them
to be productive citizens. For many, State 4-H Week marked the highlight
of the year. 4-H'ers from across the state gathered for educational programs, competitions
and awards. White students met on the campus of N.C. State, black students—at A&T.
We came to Greensboro, stayed on campus. You would have about 8 or 900 young people from
all over the state that attended that. I think it was an important part of our lives. Most
of us 4-H'ers that came… we were coming from rural areas. So I mean just to experience
a college campus, just to experience Greensboro and the bigness of it. (music)
With the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1965, 4-H, like many other organizations,
had to integrate. People from the civil rights division came
down to Raleigh and said ‘ you will have to integrate your camps this year or close
them.' I said I can't do it this year. If you'll give me three years and let me work
into it I'll be able to do it. He was able to integrate the 4-H camping system
which we may look back on today and say, that's not that big a deal, but it was a huge deal
b/c what you would have is two groups coming from the same county on buses. One bus had
white children, the other bus had African American children. And they would come to
a camp…where in the county they were separated, but in the camp, they were together. and I
think that's a great history part of who we are in 4-H.
Since its inception, 4-H has helped shape the lives of hundreds of thousands of North
Carolina's young people and build leaders locally, nationally and beyond.
when you think about what the impact's been on NC you think about the leaders that have
served this state in elected office. People like—former Gov. Bob Scott or you think
about former Gov. Jim Hunt—two well-known names in this state.—who had a tremendous
background in 4-H. Martin Lancaster was a national 4-H alumni
winner, Martin Lancaster who just stepped down as community college president. The late
Jim Graham, Elaine Marshall who is secretary of state now.
For decades 4-H has sown the seeds of hard work, hands-on learning and leadership. And
for that, the entire state is continually reaping the benefits of innovative young people.
So what began with kids and corn has grown into a movement synonymous with success.
everything that's positive, that is 4-H 4-H is the world today. You can learn anything
out of 4-H!