History of The Alabama Cooperative Extension System - Corn and Tomato Clubs

Corn and Tomato Clubs

Duncan's involvement in organizing Boys' Corn Clubs, forerunners of 4-H clubs, marked another major step toward the formalization of Cooperation Extension work. Ostensibly organized to teach farm boys advanced agricultural methods, the clubs served a dual purpose. Duncan and other professional agricultural workers throughout the nation who organized these clubs 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 — an outreach technique closely patterned after the corn clubs — as mothers began adopting canning and other food preservation techniques imparted to their daughters.

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 growing corn for prizes.

By 1916, Boys Clubs were operating in all of Alabama’s 67 counties, with an enrollment of almost 4,000 members.

Girl’s clubs, formally known at the time as 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.