Iowa PBS presents The Legacy of 4-H
Explore the origins of the nation’s largest youth organization during The Legacy of 4-H, a new documentary from Iowa PBS premiering Monday, April 6 at 8 p.m. It will be rebroadcast Sunday, April 12 at 1 p.m. and will also be available to stream online with the PBS app.
Tracing 4-H's roots back to the early 1900s, the documentary celebrates Jessie Field Shambaugh and her lasting influence on youth education. Affectionately called “The Mother of 4-H,” Shambaugh grew up and lived in Clarinda, Iowa. People knew her to be calm and thorough, with an innate ability to share with others her own knowledge.
As a schoolteacher in southwest Iowa, Jessie started Boys Corn Clubs and Girls Home Clubs in addition to camps, exhibitions and judging contests. Her vision and pioneer spirit helped lead to 4-H clubs nationwide. Through history and reflection, the film shows how 4-H has empowered generations with skills, leadership, and a commitment to community.
“It was a joy producing this documentary. I learned how Jessie Field Shambaugh, a woman from Page County, Iowa, was a driving force in shaping the 4-H movement. It was interesting learning more about 4-H and how it has adapted over the decades in order to reach more and more young people in rural and urban areas alike. As the world has changed, so too has 4-H.”
Iowans who can’t wait for the broadcast are invited to attend one of the free premiere screenings of The Legacy of 4-H. Screenings will take place March 29 at 2 p.m. at the CCAM Art Hangar in Clarinda and April 2 at 4:30 p.m. at the Iowa State University Alumni Center in Ames. For more information and to register for either event, visit iowapbs.org/events.
As a testament to Jessie and the longevity of 4-H, there are over six million U.S. school children participating in 4-H activities today. They are learning life skills such as leadership and cooperation through the same values of Head, Hands, Heart and Health that she helped pioneer over a century ago. In Iowa, nearly 100,000 youth are involved in 4-H. Jessie was part of a lasting legacy that is forever honored in the 4-H creed, “I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living for my club, my community, my country and my world.”
Funding for The Legacy of 4-H is provided by Bank Iowa, Casey’s, Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum, Iowa Pork Producers Association and NEW Cooperative, Inc.