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University of Idaho 4-H collection

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: UG 158

Content Description

4-H materials from the State of Idaho including flyers, brochures, program information, and communications.

Dates

  • Creation: 1938-2015

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Biographical / Historical

The University of Idaho Board of Regents established the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Idaho in 1892 following the passage of the federal Hatch Act (1887), which allowed the creation of agricultural experiment stations at state land-grant colleges. In addition to stimulating agricultural research, the act required the publishing of bulletins or reports of progress on station research and allocated $15,000 per year for conducting investigations and experiments and printing and distributing the results.

The University of Idaho College of Agriculture began establishing an Extension program in southern Idaho in 1910. In 1914, the federal Smith-Lever Act authorized cooperative extension work in agriculture and home economics between the state land-grant institutions and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Extension's role was to diffuse practical research-based information to people not attending college through instruction and practical demonstrations. Over the years, the Extension's mandate grew to include gardening, natural resources, youth development, and community development.

The first Boys' and Girls' Clubs were officially organized in Idaho schools in the 1911-1912 school year. By the end of the first year there were thirty potato clubs and nineteen sewing clubs, with a total enrollment of 570 members. The movement gained new stimulus with the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 which established the Cooperative Extension Service jointly among the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state land-grant universities and the counties. The Boys' and Girls' Clubs were transferred to the Extension Service from the Dept. of Public Instruction at this time. The modern 4-H clubs are an integral part of this cooperative extension work.

Although the Boys' and Girls' Clubs were the same as the 4-H Club of today, it was usually not referred to by that name. The four-leaf clover was used as an emblem, and reference was made to the four H's -- head, heart, hands, and health. In the mid-twenties the clubs gradually took up the name Boys' and Girls' Four-H Clubs, but it was not until 1948 that Congress authorized the use of the 4-H name and emblem.

The first 4-H shortcourse was held on the University of Idaho campus in 1923. Classes taught by extension personnel occupied the morning, while the afternoon was taken up with recreational activities and field trips. This shortcourse, now called the 4-H Congress, is still held at the U of I campus each summer.

Congressional support for 4-His evidenced by the 1970 funding of the 4-H expanded Food and Nutrition Education Programs for low income city youth, and 1973 appropriations for 4-H urban and community development programs. Two non-governmental organizations, the National 4-H Service Committee and the National 4-H Foundation, coordinate private support to 4-H nationally and assist in carrying out various programs for 4-H youth.

The national headquarters for 4-H is in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. State headquarters are at each state land-grant university. Each state has a state leader and a youth development staff administered by the state director of extension. Work in the counties is directed and supervised by county extension agent. Volunteer local leaders are the backbone of 4-H and assist agents by providing direct leadership and educational support to youth in the local neighborhoods and communities.

Today's 4-H program is for all youth, urban as well as rural. A variety of methods are now used to reach youth through 4-H: membership in the traditional 4-H clubs, participation in special interest groups, enrollment in short-term projects, 4-H educational TV, and special 4-H nutritional programs for low income city youth. Through the years the objective of 4-H has remained the same -- the development of youth as individuals and as responsible and productive citizens.

Extent

2 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Materials including communications, programs, flyers, and other 4-H related information from the State of Idaho.

Arrangement

Materials in this collection were retrieved from the CALS Vertical File which were pulled during a review of the VF and from various accessions. Some materials were separated and added to UG 156 (College of Agricultural and Life Sciences collection) and UG 157 University of Idaho Extension collection.

This collection was arranged in multiple series. The 1st series focuses on the materials that were removed from the Vertical File and materials separated from 2022 and 2023 transfers. Materials were grouped by subject and then placed primarily in alphabetical order. The 2nd series is materials related to specific 4-H offices from across the State of Idaho. Each office will be designated a Subseries number. Their subseries is determined by the county number they are alphabetically.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Materials were transferred by The University of Idaho Extension office and individual county 4-H offices.

General

Materials in this collection may contain images, language, or other content that may be offensive or disturbing. These materials are a product of a time and place in history and should be viewed within their historical context. To maintain historical accuracy, the materials appear as they were originally created to serve as historical evidence of the social mindsets, occurrences, behaviors, and norms of their time. They do not reflect the current views of the University of Idaho. For more information about how we treat materials with offensive or disturbing content, please see the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Offensive Content Policy.

Processing Information

Duplicate material were removed during processing as were materials focusing on national programs promoted by Extension which were not adapted or altered to be Idaho focused by Extension staff. Other material was shifted to University of Idaho Extension Publications, University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences collections (UG 156), and University of Idaho Extension collection.

Title
Guide to University of Idaho 4-H collection
Status
In Progress
Author
Finding aid prepared by Kelley Moulton.
Date
2024
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository