History of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System

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The Alabama Cooperative Extension System was created following the passage of the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, which provided federal funds to land-grant universities to support Extension work. The roots of the organization extend as far back as the late 18th century, when affluent farmers first began organizing groups to sponsor educational meetings to disseminate useful farming information. In some cases, these lectures were delivered by university professors — a practice that foreshadowed Cooperative Extension work more than a century later.Rasmussen, Wayne D., "Taking the University to the People: Seventy-five Years of Cooperative Extension", Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1989.{{rp|18}} These efforts became more formalized over time. By the 1850s, many schools and colleges had begun holding farmer institutes — public meetings where lecturers discussed new farming insights.{{rp|28}}

Early cooperative extension

Image:1883 Old Main Building South College Street Auburn Alabama.jpg

= The Morrill Acts =

In 1862, the Morrill Land-Grant College Act was passed, which granted each state 30,000 acres (120 km²) of public land for each of its House and Senate members. States gained the ability to use this land as trust funds through which colleges could be endowed for the teaching of agriculture and other practical arts.{{rp|23}}

The Morrill Act made possible the transfer of the Agriculture and Mechanical College of Alabama (later Alabama Polytechnic Institute) to the state of Alabama in 1872.[http://www.lib.auburn.edu/archive/find-aid/533/itt-hy.htm "Auburn University History:The Presidency of Isaac Taylor Tichenor, 1872-1882," Auburn University Libraries, Auburn University] The second Morrill Act, passed in 1890, provided a source of funding and prohibited racial discrimination by any college receiving these funds However, so long as the federal funds were distributed "equitably," states could circumvent this anti-discrimination provision by establishing separate institutions for white and black citizens. The separate black agricultural and mechanical schools established throughout the South later became known as 1890 land-grant institutions.{{rp|18}} The first of these was the Huntsville Normal School (now Alabama A&M University), established by the Alabama Legislature in 1873 and opened in 1875 with an annual appropriation of $1,000. In 1891, the school, renamed the State Normal and Industrial School at Huntsville, began receiving some of the funds provided by the Second Morrill Act.[http://www.aamu.edu/portal/page/portal/images/AAMUHistory.pdf "Alabama A&M University: Historical Sketch," History, Alabama A&M University.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209131813/http://www.aamu.edu/portal/page/portal/images/AAMUHistory.pdf|date=2007-02-09}}

Image:William-h-councill.jpgThe land grant university system began to struggle toward the end of the 19th century. The emerging colleges faced serious challenges establishing courses of study that appealed to potential students, particularly Southerners, many of whom were dealing with reconstructing an agricultural system badly disrupted by wartime conditions. Moreover, because of the ample land available in the West, many farmers had little incentive to adopt intensive farming methods and other advanced agricultural technologies. Many land-grant college graduates were leaving farming altogether, and agricultural colleges were criticized for not providing students with the types of training that enabled them to return to their family farms. .{{rp|25}}

J.F. Duggar, director of the experiment station at API, and other faculty members felt a strong obligation to reach farmers throughout the state in addition to the "young leaders" who had come to Auburn to undertake formal coursework."Extension Issue," Auburn Alumnus, III, Auburn Alumni Association, January, 1915. He and many faculty members maintained extensive correspondence with many of these farmers, which grew over time. Faculty members were also aware that many of the farmers in the most critical need of new farming knowledge were unable to write.Moore, Albert Burton, "History of Alabama and Her People," Chicago and New York: American Historical Society, 1927. Some face-to-face contact already was provided through farmer institutes, district schools and similar efforts through the nation's Experiment Stations. Even so, many Experiment Station researchers believed that these limited outreach efforts were insufficient. Many were concerned that these efforts diverted critically needed funds away from the stations' primary directive of conducting research.{{rp|26–28}}

= Seaman Knapp =

Seaman Ashael Knapp is often credited with taking a major lead in efforts that eventually culminated in formal Cooperative Extension work, with some referring to him as the "father" of the Extension Service.{{rp|34}} He provided incentives for farmers to settle in each township on the condition that each would demonstrate the results of his farming methods to other farmers. He also held a farm demonstration at the Porter farm.

USDA officials, seeing the success of his demonstrations, appropriated $250,000 to combat the boil weevil — a measure that also involved the hiring of farm demonstration agents. By 1904, around 20 agents were employed in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. The movement also appeared to be spreading to neighboring Mississippi and Alabama.Smith, Jack D., "Information and Inspiration: An Early History of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System," Unpublished Manuscript, March 29, 1989. pp. 13-16.

= Tuskegee Institute =

Image:Carver1web.jpgMuch like API and other land-grant institutions, Washington and Carver understood that the insights generated at Tuskegee could not be fully utilized unless they were successfully imparted to farmers.Yeager and Stevenson, p. 82.

Tuskegee pioneered the use of agricultural demonstration wagons (commonly known as Jesup wagons in honor Morris Ketchum Jesup, who underwrote the cost for their fitting and equipment) to instruct farmers and sharecroppers in far-flung regions of the state about efficient farming methods. Carver not only drafted the plans for the wagons but also selected the equipment, drew instructional charts and suggested lecture topics to be delivered at each visit.{{cite web | title = George Washington Carver | work = National Historic Chemical Landmarks | publisher = American Chemical Society | url = http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/carver.html | accessdate = 2014-02-21 }}

Image:Older-jesup-wagon.jpg Thomas Monroe Campbell of Tuskegee Institute was appointed the nation's first black extension agent in 1906 and was assigned to operate the Jesup wagons under Carver's oversight. By 1925, African American (known at the time as Negro) Extension work encompassed 31 agents working in 21 Alabama counties.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tuskegee.edu/Global/story.asp?S=1079316 |title="Helping People Help Themselves," Cooperative Extension, Tuskegee University |access-date=2007-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193245/http://www.tuskegee.edu/Global/story.asp?S=1079316 |archive-date=2007-09-27 |url-status=dead }}

Start of formal cooperative extension in Alabama

Even before passage of the Smith-Lever Act, Luther Duncan, a 1900 API graduate, had organized numerous Boys' Corn Clubs throughout the state totaling more than 10,000 members, in conjunction with his work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Plant Industries.Yeager and Stevenson, p. 80.

He became a demonstration expert,Yeager and Stevenson, p. 73. entrusted with a wide range of responsibilities including providing agricultural demonstration in the public schools, before boys clubs and in other institutions; advising public school administrators on appropriate courses of agricultural courses of study; encouraging the formation of school gardening work; and assisting the Experiment Station with farmer institutes and short courses. He also was expected to cooperate closely with the demonstration agents throughout the state and to attend their meetings. While he was made a professor of Extension in API's School of Agriculture and selected in the same manner as other faculty members, he was prohibited from teaching regular coursework at the institution. Additionally, while he was to serve as a special agent representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Knapp's supervision, he was also expected to work closely with Experiment Station Director J.F. Duggar, assisting with that division's outreach efforts.{{rp|841}}

By 1910, there were 37 agents at work in 41 Alabama counties, though operating under the USDA. The salaries of many of these employees were supplemented by county funding.Yeager and Stevenson, p. 84.

= Corn and Tomato Clubs =

Duncan and other professional agricultural workers organized Boys' Corn Clubs, forerunners of 4-H clubs, as part of Extension work. They reasoned that children often were more receptive to technological change than their parents. In time, fathers adopted these techniques themselves after observing their sons' successes. Similar successes were noted with girls' tomato clubs, patterned after the corn clubs, as mothers began adopting canning and other food preservation techniques imparted to their daughters.Yeager and Stevenson, p. 95.

The first two clubs were organized in 1909 in Tuscaloosa and Calhoun counties. County Superintendents H.P. Parsons and Perry B. Hughes took an active role in helping organize these clubs. More than 390 boys were enrolled in these counties and grew corn for prizes.Sims, T.A., "History of 4-H Club Work in Alabama," History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company, 1921. By 1916, Boys Clubs were operating in all of Alabama's 67 counties, with an enrollment of almost 4,000 members.Owen, Thomas McAdory, History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company, 1921. Girls' tomato clubs were started in 1911 in Pike and Walker counties. Each member was allotted a tenth of an acre, encouraged to grow tomatoes and awarded prizes based on their work.

The Smith-Lever Act and founding of Alabama Extension Service

In 1914, Smith-Lever Act was passed, which has been regarded as "one of the most striking educational measures ever adopted by any government". The act provided for state matching of federal funds to establish a network of county farm educators in every state in the nation. The agreement with the states drafted shortly after passage of the act stipulated that not only Smith-Lever-related Extension work but all Extension-related work associated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a state would be carried out through the state college of agriculture. Likewise, each state college was expected to establish a separate Extension division with a leader responsible for administering state and federal funds.{{rp|50}}

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Alabama formally accepted the provisions of the Smith-Lever Act in 1915, organizing the Alabama Extension Service under the direction of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. J.F. Duggar, a long-serving API administrator, assumed the reins of the new organization, while Duncan was appointed superintendent of Junior and Home Economics Extension in cooperation with the USDA. These two units operated independently until Duncan was named head of the Alabama Extension Service in 1920.Yeager and Stevenson, p.79.

Alabama Extension was organized into four areas of emphasis: farm demonstrations; woman's work, including home demonstrations and girls canning; junior Extension, particularly boy's corn clubs, pigs clubs and similar forms of outreach; and Extension work by specialists.

Image:Tuskegee-extension-staff.jpg pose for a group photograph under the Booker T. Washington monument at Tuskegee Institute, July 15, 1925.]]Under the Smith-Lever Act, administrative oversight of Tuskegee's Extension program came under the direction of Duggar in 1915, though the program remained de facto autonomous and under the direction of African-Americans.Yeager and Stevenson, p. 81. Despite its pioneering efforts in extension work, Tuskegee was not eligible to receive 1890 funds until 1972.{{rp|24}}

Eventually, program areas were expanded to include assistance with dairying, livestock production, agronomy, horticulture, farm marketing and plant and animal diseases. Youth outreach, typically in the form of Boys and Girls Clubs, also comprised an integral part of Extension work.Yeager and Stevenson, p. 87.

In 1914, forty-three of Alabama's 67 counties were served by agents. By the 1920s, Extension agents, many of whom were college graduates, were operating out of fully staffed and equipped offices in many counties. Enhanced federal and state funding enabled the Extension Service to hire 11 full-time and part-time subject-matter specialists to provide agents with guidance and assistance with program delivery.Yeager and Stevenson, p. 85.

Outreach methods

= Farm demonstration =

Farm demonstration work throughout the state encompassed 68 county agents under the supervision of J.T. Watt, state demonstration agent, who was headquartered at Auburn and assisted by three demonstration agents: A.D. Whitehead; W.L. Lett: and C.M. Maudlin. The county agents were charged with assisting in every way possible the agricultural development in their counties.

= Woman's work =

The work initially was supervised by two state leaders: Madge J. Reese, who was headquartered in Auburn; and Nellie Tappan, who was headquartered in Montevallo. Their work primarily involved supervision of the canning club movement.

= Junior extension =

Junior Extension included both home economics and junior work. Luther Duncan was assigned overall supervision of this area, with assistance from Madge Reese and Nellie Tappan, as well as from I.B. Kerlin and J.C. Ford, the state's pig club agent.

= Specialist work =

Already at this early stage, specialists were holding various types of meetings, carrying on extensive correspondence with farmers throughout the state, developing cropping and rotation systems, working out cream-gathering routes and undertaking a campaign for the prevention and restriction of hog cholera.

= Movable schools =

Inspired by Tuskegee Institute educators, Alabama Extension assigned specialists to movable schools, which then were dispatched to counties throughout the state. Extension drafted plans to develop at least 15 of these schools for white farmers and "about as many" for their black counterparts.

= Mass media =

Extension educators also began production of brief, timely articles on farm-related topics for county newspapers. The initial goal was to produce a column for every county newspaper each week for several successive weeks.

= Radio =

Image:WAPI-radio.jpgAlabama Extension and its sister organization, the Experiment Station, secured funds to purchase a small radio station known as WMAV in 1922. By 1925, WAPI, "the Voice of Alabama," a far more powerful station, was broadcasting a 1,000-watt signal from the third floor of Comer Hall on the API campus. In addition to news and weather, the station broadcast educational programs related to agriculture and homemaking.Yeager and Stevenson, p. 91.

=Satellite uplinking=

A statewide network was created and every county Extension office in the state was equipped with a satellite receiver so that each of these offices could serve as a reception site for educational programs provided from Auburn University. During breaking news events throughout the 1990s, Extension used the uplink to provide live interviews and television newscasts throughout the state.Yeager and Stevenson, p. 378.

Alabama Extension's Auburn University headquarters also was equipped with a full-service studio and live production facility so that Extension field offices would have had full access to live and recorded productions via satellite. The Auburn University facility was also equipped with a multimedia lab, which provides video and audio Web streaming."How Extension Video and Satellite Technology Works for You", EX-49, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, December, 2004.

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Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture

Alabama Extension commissioned a series of murals for the Alabama state fair. Then-Alabama Extension Director P.O. Davis stated "agriculture in Alabama, and in this nation, is in a period of change — a change toward improvement and progress." Alabama, Davis stressed, was diversifying, moving from a primarily cotton-based economy "into a combination of cotton and other cash crops plus livestock and poultry." He envisioned a dual purpose for the murals and supporting exhibits: to celebrate Alabama's rich agricultural history but also to focus farmers on a "vision of the future."[http://www.ocm.auburn.edu/news_releases/walkermurals.html Whatley, Carol, "Depression-era Murals of Alabama Agriculture to be Displayed at Auburn University's Foy Union, Sept. 21," Auburn University Sesquicentennial, Office of Communications and Marketing, Auburn University, Sept., 2006.]

Painted by Mobile native John Augustus Walker, these murals are considered examples of Works Progress Administration-related art associated with the Great Depression era."John Augustus Walker", A Presentation of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn University Sesquicentennial.