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A better rural life

This week I continue discussing the pioneering work done by the Cooperative Extension Service, which was officially created 100 years ago by the passage of the national Smith-Lever Act. Last week's column dealt with some of the political challenges which had to be overcome before the new Extension program could get under way. Emphasis this week is on the myriad of programs which the Extension Service created with the hope of improving life in rural America.

As mentioned last week, Arkansans can take pride in the fact that our state was ahead of the curve when it came to pioneering agricultural Extension work. Drawing upon its successful efforts using demonstration workers to help control the Mexican boll weevil, the U.S. Department of Agriculture sent its first demonstration agent to Arkansas in 1905. Within three years, Arkansas was home to seven district agents and 19 county agents, positioning the state to take advantage of the Smith-Lever Act when it was adopted in 1914.

Administered by land grant universities, the Cooperative Extension Service faced a daunting challenge--improving life on America's farms. Although much of this work involved demonstrating improved farming techniques and equipment, the Service also had the unique mission of improving the quality of farm life for men, women, and children.

President Theodore Roosevelt deserves some credit for this emphasis. He created a Country Life Commission, which issued a report in 1909 identifying a host of challenges faced by farm families--prompting Roosevelt to write this remarkable sentence: "The farmer should realize that the person who most needs consideration on the farm is his wife." He could have added children, too.

Two Extension programs which have been incredibly successful in addressing the needs of farm women and children are Home Demonstration Clubs and 4-H Clubs. The first HD club in America was established in Mabelvale, Pulaski County, in 1912--two years before passage of the Smith-Lever Act.

The 4-H movement evolved from "corn clubs," a national phenomenon which began in the midwest. The White County Corn and Cotton Club, organized in 1908 with only male members, was the first corn club in Arkansas, and it evolved into the state's first 4-H club. Girls were organized into canning and gardening clubs. In a statewide tomato production contest in 1913, Fay Parker of near Beebe won with 4,659 pounds of tomatoes.

By 1914, Arkansas was home to 2,100 corn club members in 70 counties and 1,180 canning club members in 15 counties. Separate clubs also existed to promote cotton, swine, tomato, and poultry production. Parents were sometimes surprised to discover that their children were out-producing them in corn or cotton harvested per acre. By 1916, many of these clubs had evolved into 4-H, which served both sexes.

From the start, Arkansas was fortunate to have some exceptionally fine Extension leadership. Last week I mentioned the important role played by Bradford Knapp, dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of Arkansas, but credit must also be given to the local county agents.

Early agents often faced difficult circumstances. Odessa Holt, the first home demonstration agent in Montgomery County, found that she sometimes had to spend the night with families--often sharing a child's bed. Her first breakfast with a client family consisted of kraut, canned apples, cornbread made without milk or eggs, and water to drink.

Blanche Hanks Elliott became the Benton County home demonstration agent in 1926. Though she worked long hours teaching rural women about modern home management, basic health and hygiene, and sewing, she still found time to organize "rest camps" for farm wives. These were usually two-day sessions where women could get away from the farm and simply relax. The first state-wide HD camp in 1933 attracted 1,000 women who camped in tents and spent their days attending demonstrations and lectures, singing, and eating food they brought from home.

Amazingly, the Cooperative Extension Service not only offered services to black citizens, but the staff was integrated. Harvey C. Ray was appointed Arkansas' first black county agent in 1915. His wife, Mary Ray, became the first black female HD agent in 1916. By 1932, 3,776 black members belonged to 180 black HD clubs, and nearly 6,000 black children participated in a segregated 4-H.

It is not going too far, I hope, when I say that the Extension Service was one of the most important modernizing forces in early 20th Century Arkansas. Extension agents taught rural Arkansans how to combat pellagra disease with proper nutrition, how to reduce hookworm infection by building proper privies, and how to properly feed babies. Better Babies Clubs were formed in 1931, and within 10 years almost 6,000 families with 8,000 children were enrolled.

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Tom Dillard is a historian and retired archivist living near Glen Rose in rural Hot Spring County. Email him at Arktopia.td@gmail.com.

Editorial on 09/21/2014

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