United States
1942
  • World War II prompted the creation of National 4-H Mobilization Week in April and National 4-H Achievement Week. The "week" concept continued after the war with National 4-H Week.
1943
4-H club boys and girls exhibiting their Victory Garden posters
  • President Franklin D. Roosevelt endorsed the 4-H "Feed a Fighter" campaign.
1948
North Carolina delegation waiting for a train to take them to the National 4-H Club Congress
  • The National 4-H Camp was renamed National 4-H Camp and Congress.
  • The first regional 4-H camp for African-American club members was established at Southern University in Baton Rouge. This was the first camp beyond state level for African-American club members in the South.
North Carolina
1940
4-H club members searching the woods for leaf samples to identify trees in Wake County, July 14-17, 1941
  • African American Home Demonstration clubs gained their own statewide organization called the State Federation of Negro Home Demonstration Clubs.
  • The first Wildlife Conservation Camp for African Americans was held.
  • The Home Demonstration organization and the Agricultural Extension Service began the cotton mattress program. Through it farmwomen learned how to make mattresses out of surplus cotton.
1941
  • 4-H started a scrap metal drive as part of the defense effort.
1942
L. R. Harrill and others watching the U.S.S. Tyrrell after it has been launched on July 10th, 1944 from Wilmington, North Carolina
  • North Carolina 4-H helped to fund and name two United States warships.
  • The first district camp was held for African-American club members.
  • The 4-H Short Courses were not held this year, nor in subsequent years through 1945.
1943
An ambulance presented to the United States Army Medical Department on July 3, 1943, in honor of former 4-H club members serving in the armed forces
  • North Carolina 4-H members collected money for two ambulances that were donated to the United States Army.
1946
  • 4-H Club membership reached 100,000.
  • The 4-H Short Course was re-established with a new name, State 4-H Club Week.
1947
  • The first meeting of the 4-H Electric Congress was held for white children with the goal of promoting the electrification of rural areas in North Carolina.
1948
Youth participating in the International Farm Youth Exchange (IFYE) program, writing their names on a blackboard
  • L. R. Harrill was selected by the United States Department of Agriculture to travel to Austria to create a national youth program modeled on the United States 4-H program.
  • North Carolina 4-H Club Week was canceled due to a polio outbreak.
  • White North Carolina 4-H Club members participated in the new International Farm Youth Exchange program (IFYE), later called the International 4-H Youth Exchange.
1949
L. R. Harrill, head of North Carolina 4-H programs, and William Kerr Scott, Governor of North Carolina, conversing with one another
  • Former 4-H club member W. Kerr Scott was elected governor.
Timeline based on sources listed in annotated bibliography.
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