2 collections related to Agriculture -- North Carolina -- History -- 20th century

The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, Office of the Director Records contain correspondence, memoranda, brochures, budgets, reports, project agreements, legal documents, datasets, training documents, scrapbooks, videocassettes, photographs, CD-ROMs, and floppy disks. Topics covered include the day-to-day administrative functions of Cooperative Extension, special training programs, awards ceremonies, state legislation, projects funded by the Southern Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, partnerships with commercial agricultural growers' associations, and the civil case Philip Bazemore versus William Friday. Materials range in date from 1907 to 2010. From its inception as the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, North Carolina State University has been deeply involved in outreach and extension work. In the 1890s and early 1900s, college personnel took part in numerous Farmer's Institutes statewide, where they and state Agriculture Department personnel met with local farmers to discuss farm improvement techniques. In 1907 James A. Butler became North Carolina's first county agent, hired to conduct demonstration work in boll weevil eradication. Greatly boosting extension work, the 1914 Smith-Lever Act provided for federal, state, and county cooperation in creating a system to expand demonstration and extension work for men and women. The law authorized land-grant colleges to sign memoranda of understanding with the United States Department of Agriculture to begin such work. With this, NC State created a new Department of Extension. The county offices report to Extension administration, based jointly at NC State University and North Carolina A&T University. Through this system, Cooperative Extension aims to disseminate information about food and agriculture, health and nutrition, and youth development. This is accomplished through partnerships, programs, publications, and expertise on the local level. Less