Information in Everyday Life: Boys’ and Girls’ Agricultural Clubs as Sponsors of Literacy, 1900–1920

Building on prior research into the 4-H movement, the role of the agricultural extension service, and rural life and school reform in the United States in the early twentieth century, this article examines the history of the 4-H movement during the Progressive Era, with a particular focus on uncovering the role that records and recordkeeping played in the clubs for rural girls and boys. The research documents the activities and events within the early 4-H movement where written literacy had a role, analyzes the idea of the 4-H movement as an agent and a sponsor of written literacy, and uncovers the view of the world that the 4-H movement was imparting through its early record books. In doing so, the article documents some of the key exogenous and endogenous forces at play during the Progressive Era that had an impact on children’s everyday information creation practices.