Alabama Cooperative Extension Home Economics Program’s 100th Anniversary

WHEREAS, Alabama Cooperative Extension Home Economics programs began in Walker and Pike Counties in 1911, with only two part-time agents to carry out the Extension’s philosophy of teaching by demonstration; and

WHEREAS, in 1914, the Extension’s Home Economics Program was made part of the land grant college system, providing instruction and demonstrations to persons not enrolled in colleges or universities; and

WHEREAS, many of the programs, including master money manager, expanded food and nutrition education, PEP and Project HELP, have been adopted in other states and nationwide due to their innovative and successful nature; and

WHEREAS, during World Wars I and II, the programs were designed to meet the challenges of the times, including education in substituting rationed food items, supervised canning centers, salvaging scrap metal and rubber, and selling war bonds; and

WHEREAS, evolving over time, the programs have included subjects such as family life, nutrition and health, clothing, housing and family resource management; and

WHEREAS, the programs are constantly updated and formulated to meet each new challenge, serve expanding audiences and respond to local problems and opportunities with the same sensitivity and enthusiasm prevalent at the Alabama Cooperative Extension Home Economics Program’s beginning, one-hundred years ago; and

WHEREAS, today’s home demonstration agents, now called family and consumer science regional agents, continue to expand the Extension’s mission, accounting for the needs of a state that is becoming increasingly affluent, urbanized, and racially and ethnically diverse; and

WHEREAS, agents are utilizing rapid advances in communications technologies and expanding their mission to reach regional, national and global audiences; and

WHEREAS, for one-hundred years, the Alabama Cooperative Extension Home Economics Program has improved the lives and served the needs of millions of Alabama families:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim 2011, as

Alabama Cooperative Extension Home Economics Program’s 100th Anniversary

in the State of Alabama.

Given Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of the Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 6th day of April 2011.

      

Governor Robert Bentley