History of Horse 4H in Oregon - Ask Extension
Hi! I participated in the Clackamas County Horse 4H program from 2007-2016 and I am now a senior at CSU studying equine science. I am taking a class a...
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History of Horse 4H in Oregon #639104
Asked May 21, 2020, 5:54 PM EDT
Hi! I participated in the Clackamas County Horse 4H program from 2007-2016 and I am now a senior at CSU studying equine science. I am taking a class about 4H youth and extension and I have a project where I have to dive into the history of how horse 4H started in Oregon. I haven't been able to find much online, and I was wondering if anyone knew much about the history of how horse 4H began, who helped create it, and just any stories on how the evolution of how horse 4H began in Oregon.
Thanks!
-Alli
Clackamas County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi Alli!
It's great to hear from you! Sounds like a great class. I don't know a ton about the early history of the Horse program, but I can point you to some sources. As a rough guess, I'd say Horse 4-H in Oregon started before 1960, possibly decades before. Clackamas County 4-H started in 1918 and horses were not a project at that time.
It may be hard to find much info online. There are office archives and archived materials held by the OSU library. I don't know if any of it is digitized. You could try talking to one of your school's librarians to see if they know how you might access that kind of thing. The kind of primary documents your might look for include personal stories/oral histories, photos, letters, brochures, and annual reports.
Try a search for E. L. Dad Potter. The guy that the horsemanship test is named after. I don't think he started horse 4-H in Oregon, but he was really involved. You might be able to find some history about him that pins down a time frame.
You can also search for articles about the 4-H Horse Program in the Journal of Extension. You should be able to view JOE articles online. There might not be one specifically on your topic, but you might get lucky and find an article about horse 4-H that has some history in the introduction.
Our Oregon 4-H Hall of Fame might hold answers. If you can't find that online, reach out to Roberta to see if she knows a link to the profiles. She might also have suggestions for places you can look for information. <personal data hidden> There is also a National 4-H Hall of Fame with profiles of inductees. And there is a 4-H History project that was working to collect oral histories of the past - maybe there is something there. https://4-hhistorypreservation.com/History/H-O-F/
Another person you could try is Duane Johnson. He retired from OSU over 20 years ago after many years in 4-H. He was deeply involved in Extension and was a historian for our association for a while. He is a treasure trove of information. Duane Johnson <<personal data hidden>>
Good luck on your search! I'd love a copy of your report when it's done!
It's great to hear from you! Sounds like a great class. I don't know a ton about the early history of the Horse program, but I can point you to some sources. As a rough guess, I'd say Horse 4-H in Oregon started before 1960, possibly decades before. Clackamas County 4-H started in 1918 and horses were not a project at that time.
It may be hard to find much info online. There are office archives and archived materials held by the OSU library. I don't know if any of it is digitized. You could try talking to one of your school's librarians to see if they know how you might access that kind of thing. The kind of primary documents your might look for include personal stories/oral histories, photos, letters, brochures, and annual reports.
Try a search for E. L. Dad Potter. The guy that the horsemanship test is named after. I don't think he started horse 4-H in Oregon, but he was really involved. You might be able to find some history about him that pins down a time frame.
You can also search for articles about the 4-H Horse Program in the Journal of Extension. You should be able to view JOE articles online. There might not be one specifically on your topic, but you might get lucky and find an article about horse 4-H that has some history in the introduction.
Our Oregon 4-H Hall of Fame might hold answers. If you can't find that online, reach out to Roberta to see if she knows a link to the profiles. She might also have suggestions for places you can look for information. <personal data hidden> There is also a National 4-H Hall of Fame with profiles of inductees. And there is a 4-H History project that was working to collect oral histories of the past - maybe there is something there. https://4-hhistorypreservation.com/History/H-O-F/
Another person you could try is Duane Johnson. He retired from OSU over 20 years ago after many years in 4-H. He was deeply involved in Extension and was a historian for our association for a while. He is a treasure trove of information. Duane Johnson <<personal data hidden>>
Good luck on your search! I'd love a copy of your report when it's done!
