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Mobile extension work at tuskegee

Extension and Tuskegee
By: Dana R. Chandler, TU Archivist
October 8, 2012
Tuskegee University
Archives

Early History
• Any consideration of the contributions of black Americans to
agricultural extension and research during this period,
however, must begin with Justin Smith Morrill and the Land-
Grant College Act, commonly known as the Morrill Act,
signed by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862.
• This act, although supposedly extending agricultural
extension and research to farmers throughout the country,
made no provisions for the use of land-grant funds for blacks.
The majority of blacks were still in slavery at the time and the
act did not divide funds on racial lines
• Therefore, except for four states (Alabama, Mississippi, South
Carolina, and Virginia) which allocated portions of their funds
for use at black colleges in 1871, and the Hatch Act of 1887,
• It was not until the second Morrill Act of 1890, and the
Smith-Lever Act of May 8, 1914, that blacks were officially
incorporated into the system of cooperative extension and
research.

Results of the 1862 Morrill Act
• Allowed for states to receive federal grants to establish
training institutions for agriculture and industry
• The majority of blacks were still in slavery at the time
and the act did not divide funds on racial lines
• Only one Black institution, Alcorn State University,
Lorman, Mississippi was designated as a land-grant
university
• Two other black institutions that received funds prior to
1890, Hampton University in Virginia, which would later
give up its land-grant status to Virginia State, and Claflin
University in South Carolina, which would later become
South Carolina State

Extension and Blacks
• 2nd Morrill Act of 1890 was passed to create a "broader
education for the American people in the arts of peace,
and especially in agriculture and mechanics arts.“
• Important caveat- To overcome the problem of non-cooperation
from Southerners, Congress added a
"separate but equal" provision for the establishment of
colleges for blacks
• Seventeen Southern and Border states took advantage
of the funding and established the institutions
commonly referred to today as 1890 Land-Grants.

Interestingly…
• “As early as 1889 farmers‘ institutes and
conferences were held in different states to
provide black farmers with information related to
the improvement of farm and home life. College
experiment station personnel, physicians, and
other specialists provided demonstrations and
lectures to black farmers and homemakers in
order to improve their health and happiness.”
James W. Smith in "The Contributions of Black Americans to
Agricultural Extension and Research.”

Extension and Blacks
• Tuskegee University did not start out as a land-grant
university
• 1890s its curriculum was similar to the land-grant
schools
• In 1887, when the Hatch Act was passed, state
legislation established an Experiment Station for
agricultural research
• In 1899, the U. S. Congress granted Tuskegee
Institute 25,000 acres of land and annual
appropriations
• Under the watchful eye of Booker T. Washington,
Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) was
instrumental in the development of Extension
within the 1890's.

• There are many notable examples of courage and
determination of people striving to educate black people
between periods of the 1870's through the 1890's.
• Two names stand out, Booker T. Washington and George
Washington Carver
• Set the foundation of Extension at the Black land-grants, but
also their research and ideas in regards to outreach are very
much a part of the Extension System's foundation
Booker T. Washington George Washington Carver

• Washington held Sunday evening talks in which he
introduced his students to the Department of Agriculture
and also emphasized the importance of developing rural
life for Blacks in the South.
• Throughout his administration, Washington visited black
families in their homes in order to gauge their needs

• In 1896, Washington persuaded George
Washington Carver to come to Tuskegee as
the director of the school farm and instructor
of practical farming.
• Borrowing from an idea by Dr. Seaman A.
Knapp, Washington instructed Carver to pack
tools in a surrey and visit rural communities
across the county and put on demonstrations
calling it a “Moveable School of Agriculture”

In addition, their contributions were made
through agents' conferences, farm and
homemakers' short courses, farmers'
workshops, 4-H short courses, and through
extension courses for agents in the field.

• In February 1892, the first annual Negro
Farmers Conference was held, drawing over
500 farmers to Tuskegee Institute from all over
the state. This conference is said to be the
spark that ignited agricultural Extension work
among Blacks.

• In 1896 Washington persuaded the Alabama
State Legislature to pass a law creating the
Tuskegee Agricultural Experiment Station
which Carver directed
• By 1900, Extension work was being conducted
by over 1,000 Tuskegee students in 28 states,
Cuba, Jamaica, Africa, Puerto Rico, and
Barbados.

Continued Outreach
• The Tuskegee experiment station published
pamphlets on
• "How to Grow the Peanut and 105 ways of
Preparing It for Human Consumption",
• "How to Raise Pigs with Little Money",
• "When, What, and How to Can and Preserve
Fruits and Vegetables in the Home",
• "A New Prolific Variety of Cotton".

Black Extension Agents
Not only had Washington presented Seaman A.
Knapp, known as the father of extension, the
idea of the moveable school, and he also urged
him to appoint black extension agents to serve
black farmers.

Thomas M. Campbell
• Thomas Monroe
Campbell (1883 – 1956)
was hired in 1906 by
Tuskegee University, later
he became the first
African American
extension agent in the
nation.
• He became supervising
agent in 1910 and held
the post until he retired
in 1953.

Some Controversy…
• IN 1903, Dr. Knapp, special agent in the United States
Department of Agriculture, was invited to Terrell, Texas, to
discuss with businessmen the serious condition of
agriculture and business caused by the spread of the
cotton boll weevil over Texas.
• On February 29, 1903, with the cooperation of the
businessmen of Terrell, Dr. Knapp established in Kaufman
County the first privately owned demonstration farm. It
was managed by Walter C. Porter, son of the owner and
supervised by Dr. Knapp.
• In 1906, the businessmen of Terrell, Texas, appealed to Dr.
Knapp for a man to give his entire time to their county.
They offered to pay a part of his salary. As a result, the first
agent to work exclusively in one county was appointed
November 12, 1906. They claim: this first county
agriculture agent was W. C. Stallin.

Stallin was a county agent, paid
from some private funds, Campbell
was a Federal Extension Agent, paid
from federal government.

Thomas M. Campbell
• After graduation from Tuskegee in 1906,
both Washington and Carver
recommended Campbell for the job of
extension agent.
• Since he worked through the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, he was a
federal employee assigned to Tuskegee.
• White agents worked out of the
administrative headquarters at Alabama
Polytechnic Institute at Auburn
(subsequently Auburn University), while
the black agents were headquartered at
Tuskegee.
• Although Campbell began his work in
Macon County, the location of Tuskegee,
he took the Movable Agricultural School
throughout the state.

Thomas Monroe Campbell and the Movable School
• Using the “Movable School,” Campbell and his agents conducted
classes for isolated farm families who were unable to attend the
courses on campus.
• His work revolutionized black farming in the South. He also led the
farmers to improve and enhance their homes and to provide
better health care for their families.
• He addressed the needs of the woman in the home and on the
farm and stressed education for children.

Thomas M. Campbell
• In 1909 he was promoted to district agent and
supervised and instructed other agents.
• Agents who followed him operated the Movable
School until World War II.
• The practice of carrying education to rural people
appealed to leaders in other countries, and sometimes
visitors from these countries came to Tuskegee to see
the Movable Agricultural School firsthand and to
discuss the work of the extension program.
• Use of such a school also spread to Europe, East Asia,
India, and Africa.

Thomas M. Campbell
• Although greatly influenced by Booker T.
Washington and George Washington Carver,
Campbell went beyond their teaching to expand
the scope of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
in agricultural extension service for black farmers.
• His work made Tuskegee the center of
agricultural extension form for blacks in the Deep
South.

Carver and Extension
• In 1896, Booker T. Washington persuaded George
Washington Carver to come to Tuskegee as an
instructor of practical farming.
• Soon after being hired, Carver became the director
of what became known as the “Movable School," a
surrey in which lecturers would travel over the
county on week-ends to educate Negro farmers on
new agricultural approaches
• Also, Carver utilized the annual Negro Farmer’s
Conference to build relationships with others
throughout the nation in which he would hold
educational meetings in their home areas

The Jesup Wagon
• Carver headed a committee to plan for a demonstration wagon and to determine
what equipment it should carry to farmers’ doors.
• solicited philanthropist Morris K. Jesup of New York, who donated funds for the
wagon.
• The Jesup Agricultural Wagon, as it was officially named, was equipped and put in
operation on May 24, 1906, under the guidance of the agricultural faculty.
• Washington was committed to addressing the needs of women who worked in
fields and in homes; thus, the operator of the wagon was instructed to meet
these needs.
• Equipment of the wagon varied
according to the season.
• Showed how to plant the garden,
how to fertilize it, and
demonstrations given on how to
plow the field.

The Movable School
• The Jesup Wagon morphed into a newer
version of the “Movable School”
• By 1930, it carried a nurse, home
demonstration agent, an agricultural agent
and an architect
• Stressed self-sufficiency
and self-improvement

Tuskegee University and Land-Grant
Status
• Tuskegee University is a largely privately funded
institution in Alabama
• Functions as de facto land grant university
• Though only Alabama A&M and Auburn University
participate in the now-combined Alabama Cooperative
Extension System (ACES), Tuskegee listed as
“cooperating partner”
• Explicitly granted the same status as the 1890 land-grant
institutions in a number of Federal laws
• Receives Smith-Laver funds since 1972 to operate its
own Cooperative Extension program.

Carver and Extension
A model to follow

GWC Biography
•Born in 1864 near Diamond Grove,
Missouri
•Attended Minneapolis High School in
Kansas
•First black student at Simpson
College, Indianola, Iowa
•Bachelor of Science degree at Iowa
State University in 1894 and Master
of Science in 1896
•First black faculty member at Iowa
College
• Taught classes in soil conservation
and chemurgy
•Came to Tuskegee University in 1896
•Served as the school's Director of
Agriculture
•Died in 1943

WhoWas Carver?
• A skilled visionary who
incorporated his world
view into everything he
did:
 Religion
 Politics
 Food
 Farming
 Nutrition, Diet and Health
• Called “The Black
Leonardo,” a Renaissance
man,[2]
• A man for all ages
2. “The ‘Black Leonardo’ George Washington Carver,” The Biblical Illustrator’s Guild, September 3, 2010,
http://www.biblicalilluminatorsguild.blogspot.com/.

How would Carver Respond to this age?
• Boston Globe article, dated
August 17, 2010, June Wulff
noted:
“Carver would have been
dismayed by the agricultural
and environmental mess
we’ve gotten ourselves
into.” [3]
• Based on the negative
effects of modern farming
techniques, people now are
going back to simpler
methods like those of
Carver.
3. June Wulff. “Before Green Was New,” The Boston Globe, 17 August 2010, sec. Lifestyle.

Carver…
• Did not invent peanut butter
• Did not come up with 300 uses for peanut
• Did not save the economy of the South
• Did not save farming in the South
Would not have liked the
reputation that he now has!

A Legend in His Own Mind?:
As for Carver’s humility and intentions,
he did not want to wear the title of Dr.
• Carver had three
honorary degrees:
– Simpson College -1928
– Rochester College -1941
– Selma University -1942

Today’s World Wide Cultural
Movement in Agriculture
• Introduce high yield crops using improved agricultural
techniques in an attempt to increase food production in
underdeveloped nations.
• Techniques adopted and promoted by the Ford and
Rockefeller Foundations and the USDA.
• Countries are witnessing serious consequences of intensive
farming using chemicals and pesticides. Studies have shown a
direct relationship between indiscriminate use of chemicals
and pesticides and an increased incidence of cancer in several
regions around the world.[4]
• Furthermore, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. are not readily
available to underprivileged nations and poor farmers.
• Now looking to use same techniques developed by poor
farmers in the South and further perfected by men such as
George Washington Carver.
4. Shiva, Vandana (March–April 1991). "The Green Revolution in the Punjab". The Ecologist 21 (2): 57–60.

GWC the Green Scientist
•Some have concluded that
“He did not make any great
scientific discoveries nor
did he further scientific
knowledge to any great
extent .” [5]
•However, recent
findings within the
Tuskegee University
Archives dispel such
claims
•Found six notebooks
containing Carver’s
experiments, drawings
and observations.
5. Elmer Keihl, et.al. “The Scientific Contributions of George Washington Carver” (Washington: National Park Service, 1961), 28.
This document was never released to the general public, although many copies exist throughout the nation.

Inside the notebooks:
Beautiful Drawings Formulas and Discoveries

So, why have they been hidden?
• “One reason I never patent my products is
that if I did it would take so much time I would
get nothing else done. But, mainly I don’t
want my discoveries to benefit specific
favored persons.” [6]
6. “The Sayings of Carver.” Compiled by Jesse Guzman. Tuskegee University Archives

What the notebooks reveal…
• Notebooks are filled with Carver’s
experiments revealing his environmental
sensitivity.
• Many pages are dedicated to water purity and
usage and the reuse of plant matter in a
variety of ways beyond cooking.
• Some experiments aided him in preparing his
bulletins.

What caught our eye…
• In Bulletin No. 35, published in 1925, entitled “How to Grow the Cow Pea,
and Forty Ways of Preparing it as a Table Delicacy,” Carver made an
interesting statement :
 He begins the article by stating that the cow pea “stands out prominently…”
 Agreed, the phrase “green-manuring,” no doubt means the cow pea could be
used as a cover crop grown primarily to replenish the soil with useful
nutrients
 But, in this bulletin, he lists 11 reasons for growing the cow pea that go
beyond its primary use as a food source or ground cover.
 He was looking for a way to use the cow pea to help man, beast and earth in a
natural and safe way.

Carver’s use and reuse method
• In Bulletin No. 41, published in 1936, entitled “Can Live Stock Be Raised
Profitably in Alabama?,” Carver wrote…
• Interestingly, he starts out with the cow pea as an essential food source for
livestock whose manure fertilizes the same!
• Carver’s participation in reusing, recycling and utilizing “earth-friendly”
measures was more than helping people to succeed economically, it was part
of his world-view!

He was concerned with what we did
with “God’s Creation”
• “I believe the Great Creator has put oil and ores on
this earth to give us a breathing spell. As we exhaust
them, we must be prepared to fall back on our
farms… For we can learn to synthesize materials for
every human need from the things that we grow.” [7]
• Because of his awareness of the finite quantity of
natural resources, he sought to reuse those materials
to continue to aid mankind.
7. “Sayings of Carver.”

Used Motor Oil and
the Government
•Carver proposed a method
for utilizing bulk, used motor
oil as a base for commercial
paint.
•Specifically, government and
military vehicles during WWII
•His peers felt “the formulae
are missing, so we have no
clue as to his proposition…”
(regarding lack of evidence of
formulas) [8]
•Yet, here we see
Carver’s testing methods
for a variety of paints for
different materials.
8. Keihl, et.al. “The Scientific Contributions,” 27-29.

His concerns for the poor farmers around him
drove Carver to seek alternative methods of
making money within the dynamics of their
economic situation.
CARVER USED EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO AID THE FARMERS…

Going Green and Crop Rotation
• “Crop rotation” has become an important phrase
in the green movement, especially regarding
organic farming [9]
• Forage and grain legumes, especially clover, must
be used in organic crop rotations as a soil fertility
increasing component [10]
• Carver was well aware of this at least a century
ago
• Today, Tuskegee using these very same ideas!
9. ASKEGAARD, M.; OLESEN, J. E; KRISTENSEN, K. 2005. Nitrate leaching from organic arable crop rotations: effects of location, manure
and catch crop. Soil Use Manage, vol. 21, p. 181–188.
10. BERRY, P. M., et. al. 2002. Is the productivity of organic farms restricted by the supply available nitrogen? Soil Use Manage, vol. 18,
248–255.

Carver’s Philosophy
• “Start where you are
with what you have.
Make something of it;
never be satisfied!” [12]
• Simple, yet effective,
advice
12. “Sayings of Carver.”

Carver the Pioneer
• His other innovative work included
developments with synthetic rubber, metal
polish, adhesives, bleach, axle grease,
buttermilk, fuel briquettes, paper, shaving
cream, shoe polish, dyes, stains, and plastics,
as well as hundreds of uses for sweet
potatoes, soybeans and legumes.

Tuskegee and Extension
• Washington and Carver understood that the
insights generated at Tuskegee and other
agricultural research facilities throughout the
nation could not be fully utilized unless they
were successfully imparted to farmers
Yeager, Joe, & Gene Stevenson, Inside Ag Hill: The People and Events that Shaped Auburn's Agricultural History from 1872 through
1999, Sheridan Books, Chelsea, Michigan (1999)

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Mobile extension work at tuskegee

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