About 4-H

4-H didn’t start at any one time or place. It is the result of the work of many people in different parts of the United States who were concerned about young people. From it’s inception, 4-H tied both public and private resources together for the purpose of helping youth people. Two forces generated the idea of 4-H work. One was the concern for education in rural areas. The seed of the 4-H idea of practical or applied educational principles resulted from concern for the relevance of public schools to country life. The second was a need for advancing the new agricultural technologies produced by research at experiment stations of the land-grant college system. The farming community did not readily accept these new ideas and techniques. When Congress created the Cooperative Extension Service at USDA in 1914, it included boys’ and girls’ club work. This soon became known as 4-H Clubs - Head, Heart, Hands and Health. In Oregon, the 4-H program began in Yamhill County by the Dayton School Superintendent in 1904.

4-H officially celebrated its “100th Anniversary” in 2003.

4-H is open to all without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, economic status, or geographic location. Marriage or pregnancy does not disqualify youth from 4-H membership or participation. Developmentally challenged youth are enrolled in a non-graded category.

Membership is often further defined using four categories relating to the developmental stages of youth:

4-H Cloverbuds-- Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders
Juniors-- 4th, 5th, 6th graders
Intermediates-- 7th, 8th, 9th graders
Seniors-- 10th, 11th, and 12th graders