4-H stands for “Head, Heart, Hands, and Health.”
Graham began holding Boys and Girls Agriculture Club meetings in the basement of a building in Springfield. These meetings were the precursor to 4-H, which now serves youth in every state in America.
In 1905, Graham became the first superintendent of Agricultural Extension at Ohio State University. He later served in the Extension office in Farmingdale, N.Y., and nationally in Washington D.C. as the federal Extension Director.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service created a national network of 4-H clubs in 1914.
Graham, who died in 1960, was inducted into the Dayton Region Walk of Fame in 2022.
“He was just such a kind, open-hearted, open-minded man that would be willing to hear your ideas and try to listen carefully and make them part of what he did,” said his granddaughter, Barbara Sydnor, at the ceremony.
In 2023, an exhibit in the Library of Congress was changed to reflect Clark County’s role in the founding of 4-H.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner worked with the library after one of his staff noticed that the founding of 4-H was incorrectly attributed to Clarke County, Iowa.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
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