The Junior Historian, Volume 12, Number 5, March 1952 Page: 1
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* THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
*
VOL. XII, No. 5 AUSTIN, TEXAS MARCH, 1952
ORIGINATION OF THE 4-H
by ALAN BRASHEARS
East Ward Junior High School, GrahamDURING the past fifty years 4-H
clubs have brought education,
guidance, and inspiration to
boys and girls in every rural commun-
ity in the United States. The move-
ment is rapidly spreading beyond the
nation's borders into many foreign
countries.
The beginning of the
twentieth century witnessed
the birth of the 4-H clubs, a
great voluntary educational
movement for rural youth in
America. During this time
the program has grown to
include nearly two million
members in 85,000 local
clubs with every state rep- 4-H insignia
resented. the Head,
The pioneers of the South and
and the Midwest developed a rural
citizenship rich in home and family ties
and strong in the solid moral values.
The early 4-H club leaders sought to
perpetuate these fundamental precepts
of a good life through their movement.
Begun in sporadic clubs whose or-
ganizers saw the possibility of teaching
improved agriculture practices to chil-
dren and thus of demonstrating those
practices to the adult world, the move-
ment has grown from a few corn, can-
ning, and poultry clubs in the South
and Middle West to the largest volun-
tary rural youth organization in the
world.
The early youth movement in Texas,
organized by the Farmers' Congress in
1903, was the Texas Farmer Boys' and
Girls' League. Professor J. H. Connell,
president of the Texas Farmers' Con-
gress and associate editor of Farm and
Ranch, presided at the first meeting.ia
H
F-According to the records, Farm and
Ranch contributed $2,000 to the sup-
port of this youth program.
In 1907 the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture took its first step
concerning club work when one of its
special agents organized a boys' club in
Holmes County, Mississippi.
The first club to be organized
in Texas was formed by Spe-
cial Agent T. M. Marks of
- Jack County, Texas, in 1908.
The club is said to have been
started in this way. Inter-
ested in having a corn show,
Marks invited three promi-
nent local men-Captain F.
representing S. White, W. D. Bentley,
lands, Heart, and J. T. Quicksall-to din-
ner. When someone remarked
during the meal that "it is difficult to
teach old dogs new tricks," Marks is
said to have replied, "Then next year
we will try the pups. We are going to
have a corn show next year by the
boys."
Captain White, horticultural com-
missioner of the Rock Island and
Frisco Lines, then offered two bushels
of his Boone County white corn ; Bentley
pledged two bushels of Laguna; Quick-
sall also provided two bushels of seed
corn. Marks furnished the rest, and the
next week he began pushing the corn
show by the boys. Each boy was given
a gallon of corn of the kind he pre-
ferred. He had four varieties from
which to choose.
When the big day came, ninety-one
boys brought in corn. There were
thirty exhibits of corn besides those of
the boys and about 170 other exhibits.
Doyle Gillespie, an original member of
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 12, Number 5, March 1952, periodical, March 1952; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391436/m1/3/: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Historical Association.