From a 4-H Clover Poster to . . .
For those who shop on the 4-H Mall, you’ll be happy to hear that this 90-year-old 4-H institution has created a “mini-store” called the 4-H StoreFront that now accepts PayPal as well as other major...
View ArticlePhotos Preserve 4-H History
In the digital age we can easily capture a special moment with a smart phone, tablet, camera or even a watch. At the turn of the 20th century when 4-H was starting, amateur photography was gaining...
View ArticleNational 4-H Youth Conference Center History
Did you know that there is a rustic garden at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center where small groups can hold a quiet meeting or closing ceremony? The “Daddy Jenks” Meditation Area was dedicated...
View ArticleConnecting with 4-H History
The 4-H National History Preservation website, located at http://4-HHistoryPreservation.com, contains historical information on 4-H from its’ beginning at the start of the 20th century through today....
View ArticleModeled for Norman Rockwell Painting
The artist used real people as models, and in this case it was a real County Agent named Herald K. Rippey who served as agent in Jay County, Indiana. A Nebraska 4-H Development Foundation pamphlet...
View Article4-H and Radio: Early Days Growing Up Together
When the National Committee on Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work (now National 4-H Council) was started in late 1921, it basically consisted of a staff of one person – Guy Noble – working at a “desk on loan”...
View ArticleHands-On 4-H. 4-H Electrification Projects: Then and Now
Many of us take electricity for granted at home, at work, and at local stores and businesses. But that wasn’t the case seventy-five years ago, especially in rural areas. An article in the 1939 National...
View Article4-H History Preservation NewsletterOctober 2015
‘Tis the season for pumpkins, goblins, corn mazes and (apparently) pumpkin-spiced lattes. Whether your 4-H Club is in a rural area or in town or city, these long-honored traditions can be a part of...
View ArticleHistorical Stories of 4-H Promotion
The National Compendium of 4-H Promotion and Visibility is a history project started a year ago and placed on the National 4-H History Preservation Program website earlier this year. It is one of this...
View ArticleHands-On HistoryPromoting the Health H
In the last issue we featured an article about O. H. Benson as one of the people selected by State and National 4-H Leaders as having “made 4-H great”. That article explained that he was instrumental...
View ArticleLooking for Fletcher the 4-H’er
The National 4-H History Preservation team is looking for information and graphics relating to Fletcher the 4-H’er comic strip appearing in the 1960s and 1970s and written by Joe Bursch, cartoonist...
View Article4-H Girls Exhibit at First Woman’s World Fair in 1925
On April 25, 1925, the First Woman’s World Fair closed a successful 8-day run at the Furniture Mart on North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. The fair, which highlighted women’s achievements in art,...
View ArticleFolks Who Helped Make 4-H Great – O. H. Benson
When an accident claimed two fingers from Oscar H. Benson’s right hand while he was sawing wood as a boy, it proved to be a cloud with a silver lining for 4-H Club work. The occurrence spurred Benson’s...
View ArticleFolks Who Helped Make 4-H Great – T. A. Erickson
Looking back on the early days of rural youth work from our present vantage point of well-developed programs and clear lines of operation, it’s hard to realize the bewildering array of choices that...
View ArticleWhy U.S. Presidents Like 4-H
I just recently got home from the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA) Conference, held in Portland, Oregon this year. Just like so many others who attended, I ate too much, slept too...
View Article4-H History Preservation NewsletterNovember 2015
November is Thanksgiving, Veterans’ Day, voting, and Christmas/Holiday Prep. We’re all thankful for 4-H and we remember with honor the veterans who helped guarantee our many freedoms, including the...
View ArticleAmerica’s Highest Scoring Air Ace in World War II was a 4-H’er
Major Richard I. Bong grew up on a farm in Poplar, Wisconsin, as one of nine children, a member of a strong 4-H family, as noted in a feature in National 4-H Club News. While at Superior State Teachers...
View ArticleFannie Buchanan – Writer of 4-H Songs
Fannie Buchanan earned a degree in music from Grinnell College, Iowa. During World War I, she organized music and recreation activities with War Camp Community Service. Eventually she joined the Victor...
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