by Paige Hart, State 4-H President
This past week my officer team had the amazing opportunity to travel to Washington, DC and participate in a celebration of 4-H history. On May 8th we celebrated the centennial of the Smith-Lever Act.
This week was an excellent excuse to brush up on some 4-H history. President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act, which created land-grant universities in 1862. In 1890, the second Morrill Act was passed that created land-grant universities accessible to African Americans. Then in 1914 the Smith-Lever Act was passed to expand the vocational, agricultural and home demonstration, which created Cooperative Extension. In 1994 Congress authorized the expansion of land-grant universities to include 29 Native American tribes. In the state of Kentucky, our 1862 university is the University of Kentucky and our 1890 university is Kentucky State University.
While the convocation highlighted our past, it also focused what they saw for Extension over the next 100 years. We heard from Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture; Peter McPherson, President of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities; Sonny Ramaswamy, Director of the USDA’s NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture; Jennifer Sirangelo, President and CEO of National 4-H Council. It was empowering to watch a video of Former President of the United State, Jimmy Carter recalling the impact that extension had on his father and his life as they were on the farm.
The theme for the centennial is extending knowledge and changing lives. Hearing the speakers’ thoughts about the future of Cooperative Extension and the impact it has had on our country thus far was truly inspirational. The common denominator between every speaker was the impression that extension has made on lives across the nation for over 100 years. The common denominator for the future was the same, to continue to better lives through the addition of knowledge.
Attending the centennial convocation was an amazing experience that I will remember for years. Hearing the hopes for Extension in the future, excites me for new opportunities.
