In a past Friday Footnote we examined the sometimes acrimonious relationship between vocational agriculture and the extension service (or the FFA and 4-H) in their formative years. However, in the early days of 4-H and FFA in Indiana, this was not a problem. Why? The state supervisor of agricultural education/FFA advisor was also the state leader of the 4-H. In this Footnote we will learn about this Hoosier who wore multiple hats – Zora Mayo Smith (typically known as Z. M. Smith) and the cooperation between agricultural education and extension.
Introducing Z. M. Smith
Z. M. Smith was appointed State 4-H Club Leader in Indiana on September 1, 1912. Nine months later (May, 1913) he was asked to be the State Supervisor of Agricultural Education. He agreed to do so provided he could continue being the state 4-H club leader. In 1923 he added a third responsibility – State Director of Vocational Education. He served in this capacity until 1936. He continued as Ag Ed state supervisor and State 4-H Leader until June 30, 1941.
His successor, Harry F. Ainsworth, who also served as State Supervisor of Agricultural Education and State 4-H Club Leader in Indiana, wrote this about Z. M. Smith (1944, p. 4):
Dr. Smith’s philosophy of education for rural young people has been exemplified during the years in the coordinated program which has functioned in Indiana. His leadership has been an inspiration to all who have worked with him. He had a thorough knowledge of his job. He believed in serving others. He never worried about who would get credit for such a service. He distributed responsibilities to others and then trusted them. Dr. Smith always found time for those who sought his counsel. His judgment and decisions were respected. He has been an authority in the field of agricultural education and 4-H Club Work.
Figure 1. Z. M. Smith
Who Was Z. M. Smith?
Zora M. Smith was born in Tipton County, Indiana in 1874. He was reared on a farm and worked on the farm until he was 22 years old. He attended a local county school for the elementary grades and then attended the DePauw University Academy School (the equivalent of a high school) and graduated in 1898.
Zora entered DePauw University in 1898 and graduated with an A.B. degree in 1901 and later (1905) received the M.A. degree from DePauw.
Smith had various experiences as an educator. His teaching career started in a one room country school near Tipton in 1895. He received $2 a day in salary. From 1901 to 1903 he was Principal of Jefferson Township Schools in Kempton, Indiana. He moved to Rockford, Illinois where he was head of the English Department at the high school from 1903-1905.
If “Rockford, Illinois” sounds familiar, it should. About a month ago the Friday Footnote was about school based corn clubs and O. J. Kern. Kern started school based corn clubs and was Superintendent of Schools in Rockford during the time Z. M. Smith was employed as Head of the English Department at the high school. Since Kern published an annual report of the schools including the Boys’ Exploration Club (which were corn clubs) it is a near certainty that Smith learned about club work from Kern.
Z. M. moved to Danville, Illinois where he was the high school principal from 1905 to 1909. He returned to Indiana in 1910 to be the principal of Jefferson Township School in Goldsmith, Indiana and was also the agriculture teacher. He served as principal/ag teacher until he accepted the position of State 4-H Club leader in 1912 and moved to Purdue University.
While serving as the state leader for both 4-H and Agricultural Education, Z. M. continued his education. He received a B.S. degree in agriculture from Purdue in 1919 and earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1929. The title of his dissertation was “The Work of the Teacher of Vocational Agriculture.”
Indiana – Ahead of the Curve
In 1889 the Indiana Legislature passed the Indiana Farmer’s Institute Act (See this Friday Footnote to learn more about Farmers’ Institutes). Purdue University was responsible for the administration of the Farmers’ Institutes and operated them as part of the work of the Agricultural Experiment Station. As a result of the Farmer’s Institute work, corn clubs started appearing in Indiana in the early 1900s.
In 1911 a Department of Agricultural Extension was established at Purdue University by the state legislature’s passage of the Clore Act. The following year Z. M. Smith was employed by that Department to be in charge of Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work.
After he was hired Smith proposed the following guidelines for club work (Ainsworth, 1944, p. 14):
- There should be a local organization of club members. The township might be the logical unit for local organization.
- There must be a local adult volunteer leader for each local club.
- Teachers of agriculture and home economics should serve as local 4-H leaders.
- Responsibility for organizing, supervising, and conducting club work must be carried primarily by local leaders, teachers of agriculture and home economies, parents, and public-school officials and administrators, serving under the supervision of county and state leaders.
- Club projects should deal with actual farm and home problems and should contribute to their solution.
- The club program should be in operation twelve months in the year.
From 1889 until the passage of the Indiana Vocational Education Law in 1913, Purdue University and the state department of public instruction encouraged the teaching of agriculture in the public schools. In 1911-1912 agriculture was taught in 3,713 elementary schools in 64 counties and in 366 high schools in 68 counties (Rogers & Smith, 1944). The 1913 Indiana Vocational Education Act called for a state supervisor for Agricultural Education.
Since Smith had experience as a school administrator and agriculture teacher, he was offered the position of state supervisor. His rationale for continuing to serve as state 4-H Club Leader AND assuming the position of state supervisor for agricultural education was based on several fundamental principles which he believed. Some of the principles were (Ainsworth, 1944, p. 9):
- Agricultural extension education and vocational education in agriculture in a community or in a county are concerned with—
- identical human resources, —the same families including children, youth, and adults.
- identical natural resources, —farms and their crops, livestock, and equipment.
- There is only one best way of using natural resources to meet human needs. There cannot be two best ways, for a given situation, of conserving soil fertility, of increasing soil fertility, of judging livestock, of marketing farm products, of financing the farm business, of providing social and educational opportunities, of supplying satisfactory recreational facilities, etc.
- Vocational and extension agents in agricultural education may and should assist in determining the program to be followed in each community or county. Certainly, they must supply educational leadership in carrying out effective instruction as an integral phase or unit of the program.
- Every individual and every family face the problem of making a living and of getting maximum enjoyment and satisfaction out of life. Attainment of these ends should be the mutual responsibility of each member of the family…It is the responsibility of vocational education and agricultural extension to assist the farm family in discovering the best way for attaining these results and for establishing habitual performance in accord with that way.
Z. M. Smith firmly believed that improving the plight of rural people, children and adults, was the responsibility of both the vocational teacher and the county agent. Why should there be a division between the two?
Supervised Home Project and Club Work
An Indiana State Board of Education bulletin titled Supervised Home Project and Club Work was published in 1918. Based on the title, what would you say was the focus of the bulletin? The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 required all vocational agriculture students to have supervised home projects so perhaps this bulletin is about agricultural education; but the Future Farmers of America as a club did not exist until 1928. Or is this publication about 4-H Club work? If so, why was it published by the State Board of Education under the direction of Horace Ellis, State Superintendent of Public Instruction? Confusing? Not really if you realize Z. M. Smith blurred the line between extension and vocational education. The author of the publication was not identified but it could have only been written by Z. M. Smith.
Figure 2. The 1918 State Board of Education Club Work Bulletin
While many states went out of their way to differentiate between vocational education and extension work, Indiana promoted cooperation between the two entities. In the bulletin mentioned above on page 11 there is a section titled “The County Agent as a Club Leader” and another section titled “The Vocational Teacher as a Club Leader.” Both are recognized for their work as youth leaders. The final sentence in the County agent section states (p. 11), “The County agent can be depended upon to strongly support club work in every possible way; but because of important work with adults the detailed supervision of many boys and girls must be done by township supervisors, vocational teachers and other workers.”
In the section titled “The Vocational Teacher as a Club Leader” it is stated (p. 11) “Vocational agricultural teachers, like county agents, can give but a small fraction of their time to club supervision. Their chief duty is to give vocational agriculture instruction…Experience has proven that club work is one of the best means of developing interest in vocational work. For this reason, the vocational teacher has found it highly advisable to devote a small part of his time to club project work with boys and girls.”
The word 4-H is never mentioned in the publication. There are numerous examples of successful club work given in Part III of the publication. Both activities of county agents and agriculture teachers are given.
In 1920 a revised version of the booklet was published. In the Forward six groups are identified and described as contributing to the success of club work. The six groups are:
- The local community
- The State Department of Public Instruction
- The Federal Board for Vocational Education
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture
- The Purdue Agricultural Extension Department
- The State Employment Commission (Junior Division)
The section about the local community identifies both county agents and agriculture and home economics teachers as club leaders.
There is a brief mention that club projects of Smith-Hughes vocational agriculture students should be of a larger scale than standard club projects.
Photos of agriculture teachers and their club activities were published along with quotations from the agriculture teachers about their club work in the 1920 bulletin. See Figures 3 & 4.
Figure 3. Quotations from agriculture teachers about club projects in the 1920 bulletin.
Figure 4. Photo from the 1920 bulletin.
Living in Both Worlds
Z. M. Smith was a respected leader in both the Vocational Education world and the Extension world. From 1923 to 1931 he served as Executive Secretary of the American Vocational Association. During this period membership of the association increased from 1,100 to 13,000. In December of 1923, the association had an indebtedness of $3,500. In December 1931, the association had resources of over $20,000.00. Dr. Smith originated a Quarterly News Bulletin for the association and edited it from 1925 to 1929.
Dr. Smith chaired the committee that was responsible for creating The Agricultural Education Magazine and served as the managing editor for three years (1927-1929) to make sure it got off to a good start.
In 1939 Smith was recognized by Epsilon Sigma Phi, the National Honorary Extension Fraternity, for his distinguished service in Extension. His obituary in the Lafayette Journal and Courier (January 7, 1961) identified him as the “father of Indiana 4-H clubs.”
Concluding Remarks
It was enjoyable learning about Z. M. Smith. His philosophy about the interconnectedness of vocational education and extension is as valuable today as it was over 100 years ago. I wonder where we would be today if all of our early leaders wore the two hats of agricultural education and extension like Z. M. Smith did.
During my tenure at North Carolina State University I also wore two hats. I had an academic appointment and an extension appointment. I got to travel the state working with agriculture teachers and extension agents. I was even an officer in the NC Association of Cooperative Extension Specialists. I enjoyed my work with both extension agents and agriculture teachers and believe it made me a better teacher. I highly recommend establishing relationships between agricultural education and extension.
References
Ainsworth, Harry (1944). Indiana – A Pioneer State in Agricultural Education and 4-H Club Work. Department of Agricultural Extension, Purdue University.
Rogers, H, L. & Smith, Z. M. Unpublished study cited by Ainsworth, Harry (1944). Indiana – A Pioneer State in Agricultural Education and 4-H Club Work. Department of Agricultural Extension, Purdue University.
Supervised Home Project and Club Work. 1918, 1920. Indiana State Board of Education & the Department of Agricultural Extension, Purdue University.