Wider World Wider

Windo W s to a Wider World WindoWs to a Wider World The payne/national 4-H felloWsHips 1931-1969 Copeland M c a uliffe Harlan G. Copeland V. JosepH Mcauliffe WindoWs to a Wider World WindoWs to a Wider World The payne/national 4-H felloWsHips 1931-1969 Harlan G. Copeland V. JosepH Mcauliffe Windows to a Wider World was written and compiled by Harlan G. Copeland and V. Joseph Mcaulife to preserve the record of a program providing life-changing experiences to 131 men and women from 1931 to 1969. Cover illustration by dale reed, Minnesota 4-H alumnus Copyright 2008 alumni and friends of the payne/national 4-H fellowship programs saint paul, Minnesota, 55108 Composed and printed at allegra print & imaging arden Hills, Minnesota 55112 v Foreword This volume is about a leadership development program designed around practical, “hands on” learning experiences to increase and expand dimensions in creativity, vision and human achievement. The Federal Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act in 1914 creating the Cooperative Extension System, perhaps our nation’s best example of cooperative effort between government, private enterprise and voluntary sectors to effectively deliver and apply resources with immeasurable, syn- ergistic results. The purpose of the legislation was to extend the knowledge base created in the laboratories of research from State Land–Grant Universities and the United States Department of Agriculture to people for practical use where they lived and worked and served. Early Extension leaders quickly learned that innovative teaching methods and skills were needed to inform and involve farm families in learning and applying new skills in farming, home making and in developing institutions that served rural communities. Traditions and “handed down” practices were engrained in farming, home practices, and rural education. In breaking the bonds of traditional practices, Extension leaders added new dimensions in “applied education” to the traditional classroom teaching in formal education. New teaching methods and curricula were de- veloped around the idea of using “real life and real experiences” as the teaching laboratories. This new era of education required many new staff training and development dimensions that involved more in-service, practical hands-on learning. Innovation in staff development methods were especially needed in Ex- tension’s growing and expanding 4-H youth development programs. In- dustrial development, communications and transportation and international relations were all rapidly changing how current and future generations would be employed and engaged in our republic. By 1930, 4-H was al- ready a widely recognized and successful educational program involving youth in practical educational experiences that helped prepare them for a broad range of career opportunities. Extension leaders were well aware of the imposing staffing challenges and requirements needed to build and v maintain 4-H on the “cutting edge” of success as a youth development educational program. This book documents one dimension of a very successful effort to prepare professional staff for future service. The biographies of the Payne Fellows and the National 4-H fellows speak to the service of these dedicat- ed and valued citizens. They represent the practical results of a visionary program to broaden the horizons of the knowledge, skills and leadership qualities of future leaders. Mr. S. Howard Evans of the Payne Fund introduced the first two recip- ients of this fellowship program at National 4-H Camp in Washington, D.C. in 1931. Mr. Evans introduced the program as “Windows to a Wider World” and he stated “we need to be lifted above our immediate surround- ings to a point where we can get a panoramic view of the whole …” Would that the success of the Payne Fellowships and the National 4-H Fellowships serve as prologue to our future visions and achievements in leadership development. Grant A. Shrum Past President National 4-H Council vi vii Authors’ Notes As former National 4-H Fellows, we have attended periodic reunions of the Fellows and spoke of incidents that occurred during and after the Fellowship years. Over time the idea occurred that documenting the establishment, conduct and results of the Fellowship would be a contribution to 4-H and Extension history. During the 1960s we were both Federal Extension Service, USDA staff members and jointly wrote several reports and publications. Each then went our separate career ways and reconnected while faculty members at the University of Minnesota in the 1970s, and again beginning in the late 1980s when we were both again in Minnesota and approaching retire- ment. The question was raised again in correspondence between us in 2001 about the need for a 4-H Fellow “final” report. Finally, in 2007, we met with Susanne Fisher and Evelyn Harne to discuss doing a history of the Fellowship and explore the implications for the future of 4-H staff development. We realized that if a study of 131 individuals from 1931-1969 were to be done, it must be completed while former Fellows were in a po- sition to tell their “profound life story.” Since then, we have attempted to locate all 131 former Fellows (or their relatives) and to obtain information about their Fellowship experience and life stories. We want to acknowledge the many former Fellows, wives, husbands, children and other relatives and friends who willingly responded to our inquiries. Several retired and current 4-H and Extension staff members have volunteered their time to locate records and other data. Four former Fellows volunteered to head a fund raising committee to ensure that the report was in printed form and to establish an Archive of Fellows’ reports, photographs, records and memorabilia at the National Agricultural Library. We would specifically like to acknowledge the assistance of Harlan Stoehr who has provided invaluable technical support with printing the document. The authors have tried to let the life stories of the former Fellows speak vi vii for themselves. Draft copies of the manuscript have been reviewed and many suggestions and revisions have helped the authors avoid serious errors of fact and omission. Needless to say, if any errors remain, it is the sole responsibility of the authors. We would also like to explain that the variability in the quality of the photographs used in the report is due in some part to having to use reproductions from printed pages. While this has been a collaborative effort from the beginning to locate all former Fellows and to collect and report their life stories, Harlan has served as the lead researcher ably supported and assisted by Joe, Sue Fish- er and many others. We hope that you, the reader, enjoy this “trip” back to the early 1930s through 1969 in learning about the activities and accom- plishments of the Payne and National 4-H Fellows. Harlan Copeland V. Joseph McAuliffe viii ix Acknowledgements Many people have provided invaluable assistance in the preparation of this history of the Payne/National 4-H Fellowships. A special “thank you” is extended to all former Fellows who completed questionnaires, responded to innumerable telephone and e-mail requests, donated reports, photographs and memorabilia for the National Archives, and contributed to the expense of conducting and publishing this history. Susanne Fisher and Eleanor Wilson have been involved with the project since the beginning and lent their advice and encouragement, helped locate former Fellows, and offered suggestions to improve the manuscript. Ralph Kirch, William Tedrick, Marcele Barelman Skelton and Helene Horimoto Zeug comprised the committee that solicited the necessary funds to establish the 4-H Fellows Archives at the National Agricultural Library and to conduct the research and publish the results. We are also grateful for the in-kind contributions provided by Mel and Linda Thompson. A major challenge was locating and obtaining information about all 131 former Payne and National 4-H Fellows. We’re especially grateful to Ella Smart who contacted libraries, universities, newspapers and even checked some home addresses in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area about these tasks. Her friend Margery F. Grace, while snow bound in her Ithaca, NY home, in one day located several Fellows we had more or less given up on finding. We were also assisted by many other former Fellows with this job – Dale Apel, Mariellen Jones Appleby, Sue Kleen Benedetti, Richard Bitterman, Ruth Brasher, Dorothy Arvidson Buss, Bronna Elkins Godwin, Joye Brown Kohl, Roger Lawrence, Charlene Lind, Betty Pingley Mc- Cartney, Rubinette Miller Niemann, Dwight Palmer, Lois Redman, James Sais, John Sterling, Derald Suffridge and William Tedrick. When we had questions about participants in international programs at the National 4-H Foundation, we turned to Melvin Thompson and Francis Pressly. Retired and current staff members also searched records for information: Carlton Blalock and the Northampton County Extension staff (NC); Helen Brock (FES); William Caldwell (NE); Rich Howard (SD); Duane Johnson and Glenn Klein (OR); Charles W. Lifer (OH), Ruth Milton and Emily King (FL); Hal Taylor (TX); Jo L. Turner (MO); and Marion Wells (NY). viii ix Genealogical Societies in Paradise, California and Caldwell County, North Carolina helped us locate and find information about two former Fellows. Generous librarians also contributed significantly to our research effort. Ann Sindelar and Connie Hammond, Western Reserve Historical Society and Library in Cleveland, Ohio were instrumental in our locating and using their very useful collection pertaining to the 1931-1939 Payne Fel- lows. Sara Lee, Susan Fugate and Wayne Olson at the National Agri- cultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland facilitated the establishment of a National 4-H Fellows Archives, and located and duplicated needed materi- als. Tab Lewis, Archivist, persevered in locating Box 9A, “National 4-H Fellowships and other Scholarships,” from the Extension Service Records at National Archives II at College Park, Maryland.

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