Wisconsin's First 4-H Club
The Linn Junior Farmers Club was the first 4-H Club organized in Wisconsin. Mrs. May Hatch, local community leader, and Thomas L. Bewick, newly appointed State Boys and Girls Club Leader at the University of Wisconsin, organized the club here on the Hatch farm, October 30, 1914.
The club was started five months after Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act which created the Cooperative Extension Service whereby federal, state, and county governments participate in the county agent system.
Four boys and three girls attended the first meeting of the club. Membership grew to 21during the year with projects in livestock, crops, gardening, canning, cooking, and sewing.
During this period, similar boys and girls clubs were beginning in other states. The movement grew rapidly and the variety of projects with appeal to rural and urban youth increased. By 1970, four million urban and rural members were participating annually in the nation and 4-H had spread to 84 countries of the world.
Marker is on County Route BB ½ mile west of Hillside Road, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
