Honoring the Past

Celebrating the Present

Envisioning the Future

The Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H Program and the 4-H Club Foundation of Mississippi, Inc. will mark this important time in our history by dedicating 2007 as the official Mississippi 4-H Centennial Anniversary. There will be special events and activities throughout the year including the grand opening of the Mississippi 4-H Learning Center and Pete Frierson Mississippi 4-H Museum.  On this site are items of interest to members, clubs, leaders, alumni, donors and the public.

How it all began...

In the early 1900’s rural school principals and superintendents joined forces with agricultural colleges and experiment stations to initiate a program of educational and cultural reform among rural families.  Their focus was on youth development and experiential educational programs.  Their objective was to improve agricultural productivity, standards of living, and personal well being through rural youth.  These were known as Rural Youth Organizations, or better remembered as Corn Clubs, Pig Clubs and Tomato Clubs.

Mississippi Leads…

On December 11, 1907 William Hall "Corn Club" Smith, cooperating with Mississippi A&M College (now Mississippi State University) and Seaman A. Knapp, USDA, Washington, D.C., became the first individual and Mississippi the first state to have their Rural Youth Organization, sponsored by the federal government.  He was paid $1 per year and franking privileges. 

It began in Lexington, Mississippi under the USDA Collaborator William Smith and County Agent W.B. Lundy with 120 boys in the Holmes County Corn Club.  With production techniques provided by Mississippi A&M, guidance by Mr. Smith and Mr. Lundy, and a lot of sweat by the boys, yields as high as 120 bushels per acre were harvested.  In October 1907, 82 of 120 boys first exhibited their corn at the Holmes County Fair in Lexington. And, the rest is history. Read more in the historical outline.