The Cooperative Extension Service in Michigan 1940 to 1980 wenty five years after passage of the Smith -Lever Act in 1914, the pioneers of the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service looked back on their first quarter century. Assistant Director Karl McDonel documented the "History of Cooperative Extension Work in Michigan, 1914-1939:' The history was published as Extension Bulletin 229 in 1941. Seventy years after the Smith -Lever Act, "Plus Two Score" summarizes Michigan Extension history from 1940 to 1980. Smith -Lever itself provided the springboard and continuing support for the unique educational effort that has left indelible imprints on rural and urban Michigan, touching the lives of millions throughout the state. New-10:84-4M -WP- KMF APR33 Cooperative Extension Service Michigan State University MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ES COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE MSU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution. Cooperative Extension Service programs are open to all with- out regard to race, color, national origin, sex, or handicap. Issued in furtherance of cooperative extension work in agricul- ture and home economics, acts of May 8, and June 30,1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Gordon E. Guyer, Director, Cooperative Extension Service, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI 48824. This information is for education purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorse- ment by the Cooperative Extension Service or bias against those not mentioned. This bulletin becomes public property upon publication and may be reprinted verbatim as a separate or within another publication with credit to MSU. Reprinting cannot be used to endorse or advertise a commercial product or company. II The Cooperative Extension Service in Michigan 1940 to 1980 Einer Olstrom Howard Miller 1984 III About the Authors: ~wo Score chronicles the highlights of the Extension Service in l.~c~igan through four decades. It is the magnum opus of two retired staff members who lived through much of what is now history. These few pages cannot completely document the dedicated work of some 2,000 Extension workers who served over the 40-year span. Nor will it capture the contributions of thousands of volunteer leaders who helped demonstrate the true genius of Extension. Einer Olstrom was with the Extension Service in Michigan for 12 years. After 10 years as a 4-H and county agricultural agent, he became a district supervisor in Northern Michigan. A Michigan native and Michigan State graduate, for more than 20 years he was on the MSU campus as an Extension supervisor, district director, program leader and director. He retired in 11)i7 as assistant Extension director for Natural Resources -Public Policy programs. Howard Millercame to Michigan after ten years as an Ohio Extension agent. After earning his third degree at Ohio State, he joined the information services staff in 11)59. He was Extension -Rcscarch Information editor and, later, project leader. In 196H he assumed leadership for the Extension Management Information System. He held this post with the CES administrative staff until retirement in 1981. TIll' l-r.un rr u-r , (fl1m left - l'Llitpr, n(\llal~1 (,regg; authors. Eincr UI,tr<'ll1 'ltlel Howur.! \Idler; ,,,,,,Lint,, "elk Bartlett and Linda Dansl-v, IV =--=----=-- -~==::-=-- --- -- --=-------------- - -- -- --- - - -- -- - ------==--=-=--=---=------ ------- ------ - Grateful Acknowledgements: Kelly Bartlett, MSU graduate student, spent countless hours researching hundreds of names, verifying dates and extracting historical bits from the University Archives, references, reports and 40 years of issues of the Extension Service News and its successor, The Communicator. Linda Dansby typed, retyped and typed again all the names that make up Extension's history and the frequently revised drafts of the manuscript which were generated over more than two years. "Elder Statesmen and Women" of the Extension Service gave advice and suggestions, helped dispel some of the haze of history, read early drafts and provided encouragement for the completion of this 40-year sequel. All were part of the history unfolding on these pages. Herbert A. Berg, assistant director from 1944 to 1964, kept meticulous "personnel books" which formed the basis of much of the content of this history. Helen Stophlet, state Extension staff secretary, kept personnel records "for years" with Herb Berg, continuing after his retirement in 1964 until she retired in October 1978. Don Gregg, retired Extension bulletin editor, edited the manuscript; and Ken Fettig, associate editor; Leslie McConkey, assistant editor; Doris Steinhardt, secretary; and Terry O'Connor, graphic designer, all of ANR information services, performed the myriad tasks of moving the manuscript into print. Epsilon Sigma Phi (Michigan Alpha Psi chapter) gave continuing moral support and encouragement to this undertaking. Department of Agricultural and Extension Education under Carroll "Jake" Wamhoff provided supplies, copy machine and work space with a cooperative, friendly atmosphere. Director Gordon E. Guyer and office staff provided financial support and helpful encouragement. Countless and unnamed Extension employees supported the idea of a history and cooperated in its accomplishment. v ---~---------. - ... ------- ------- --- A WORD TO THE READER... the Table of Contents indicate, the decades from 1940 to 1980 provide the structure of the two score years of history. Each chapter briefly describes the setting, the situation, the prevailing Aconditions and events that characterized the decade. Then there is an unfolding of each "program area;' and related developments are recounted in what may appear. to be repetitive detail. Those who read this history may be struck by this seeming repetition among chapters and sections. We ask your indulgence. Lacking a strategy, the selective reader might fail to capture the highlights of any one period or that of a program area within a decade. It is patently evident that CES had no scheme for a bold "Ten Year Plan:' Each chapter is designed to stand by itself. Even with this attempt at comprehensive coverage, we recognize that We may have missed names and events. In addition to exercising editorial prerogatives, we were also often limited by availability of documentation ... the omnipresent Extension annual reports notwithstanding. his has been an effort to chronicle an accurate and interesting T story of the 40 years of Extension in Michigan since 1939. We have tried to feature the many dedicated Extension workers who made the story possible. As a bonus we have listed the names of some 3,000 persons who served with CES since the very beginning in 1914. We trust that these pages evoke the memories of a colorful and rewarding past, sharpen a clearer focus on the present and inspire a broad vision of the future for the Cooperative Extension Service in Michigan . .... ..The Authors .----------------- VI ~--- -=- Contents About the Authors IV A word to the reader VI Prologue 1 Extension in a World at War: the 1940's 7 The Centennial Years: 1950-1959 43 Troubled Times: from Stability to Explosion - 1960's 87 The 1970's: Continuing Growth in Crisis and Challenge 143 Chronology of Extension 193 Directors 211 All Personnel 225 Roster of Extension 233 VII ROLOGUE TO FOUR DECADES OF EXTENSION -- n 1940, leaders of Michigan's Extension Service looked back on a quarter century of educational accomplishments. IAs the decade of the forties began, Assistant Director Karl H. McDonel (among others) authored a "History of Cooperative Extension Work in Michigan, 1914-1939." The publication carried no author byline and was published simply as "Extension Bulletin 229-June 1941." It has become a collector's item. The book's opening paragraph commented: "In a quarter century of Extension Service ... there still is need to look back to the year 1849 for the beginnings of America's first agricultural college." In that year, famous for the California gold rush, the Hon. H.E. Lathrop addressed the state agricultural society with a plea that attention be paid to farmers' sons of the state. He estimated that four-fifths of Michigan's youth would pursue agriculture as a life's work. That stirred the rural population to support the founding of Michigan Agricultural College in 1855. That early educational effort at East Lansing has continued for more than 125 years. Growth came slowly in the first decades, and in 50 years only 1,338 graduates had earned degrees from the newly created Michigan Agricultural College (MAC). In' the second half century ending in 1955, more than 43,000 received degrees from the state's land-grant institution. But the new college also was to have an outreach dimension. Rural people were asking how new knowledge generated at the college could be transferred to farm families across the state. MAC staff recognized the need. In 1911, President Robert S. Shaw appointed Robert J. Baldwin "Superintendent of Agricultural Extension" to extend research findings beyond the campus boundaries. The next year, H.G. Smith was employed as the first "county agent" in Alpena. Within a year, a dozen more were hired in other Michigan counties. Eben Mumford became the state leader of county agents. Passage of the federal Smith-Lever Act was still a year away. As the impetus for off-campus programs got in motion, the president of the Upper Peninsula Grange Association published a leaflet, "Why a County Agricultural Agent?" In the booklet, I.W.