4-H Story: 1930-1959

THE MICHIGAN 4-H STORY


	1933	On May 2, 1933, two hundred young men arrive in Michigan as part of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) a program that is part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Their commitment to improving and building Michigan's parks and to preserving our natural resources is a tradition carried on by 4-H clubs across Michigan today.
	1935	The Detroit Tigers win their first World Series. Playing on this team someday becomes the dream of Michigan 4-H baseball players.
4-H national enrollment passes 1 million youth.	1936
4-H clover protected by Congressional action.	1939
	1941	The Great Depression, which spanned 12 years, ends with America's entry into World War II after the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The war would rally 4-H'ers to raise food for the "Feed a Fighter" campaign.
First National 4-H Week observed.	1945
Michigan 4-H becomes one of several states to launch the International Farm Youth Exchange program (IFYE). National 4-H Club Foundation organized.	1948
4-H Camp Kidwell opens for summer camping in Allegan County.	1949
Michigan 4-H Foundation founded. Division of 4-H and Young Men and Women's Programs created at United States Department of Agriculture.	1952
	1955	Rosa Parks says no to giving up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, launching the civil rights movement in America. (Parks later moves to Detroit, Michigan.) 4-H'ers begin to explore what it means to be different in America.
	1957	The 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge is completed in 1957, uniting Michigan's two peninsulas. Who needs to go overseas? 4-H'ers can finally connect the cultures of the UP and the LP! For non-Michiganders, the "UP" and "LP" mean the Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula.
140 acres purchased in Osceola County as the future home of Camp Kett.	1958
The National 4-H Foundation opens the National 4-H Center in a suburb of Washington, D.C.	1959
INTRO.> 1902-29 > 1930-59 > 1960-1979 > 1980-2002 >

For more information contact:
Michigan 4-H Youth Development
160 Agriculture Hall
Michigan State University Extension
East Lansing, MI 48824-1039
Phone: 517-432-7575
E-mail:msue4h@msu.edu