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County Council of Home Demonstration Clubs scrapbook

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-0362

Scope and Contents

The collection contains a scrapbook documenting the history of the Tuscaloosa Home Demonstration Club and includes photos, newspaper clippings, and club documents.

Dates

  • 1911

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Biographical / Historical

In 1914, Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act, establishing the Cooperative Extension Service, whereby county agents would call on farm communities to teach farmers the latest agricultural technology and to also teach home economics to women and girls. Home Extension Agents made quite an impact on the often isolated communities they served, many of which were without electrical service, telephones, or even rural mail delivery.

Women as well as men were targeted in the federal government's efforts to institute rural improvement programs. Female home demonstration agents became familiar figures in rural communities. The clubs they organized provided training not only in nutrition, hygiene, and child-rearing techniques but also in craft skills useful to home-making and developing home industries. Handmade baskets using native materials such as pine straw were popular. Many women made rag rugs. However, not all crafts produced by home demonstration clubs were "folk" (i.e., representing a line of unbroken tradition) but many were. In fact, the home demonstration club functioned as a forum for the transmission of folk skills in many communities already deeply rooted in traditional activities.

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Overview

Scrapbook documenting the history of the Tuscaloosa (Alabama) Home Demonstration Club and includes photos, newspaper clippings, and club documents.

Provenance

unknown

General

To provide faster access to our materials, this finding aid was published without formal and final review. Email us at archives@ua.edu if you find mistakes or have suggestions to make this finding aid more useful for your research.

Processed by

unknown, 2008; updated by Martha Bace, 2013
Title
Guide to the County Council of Home Demonstration Clubs scrapbook
Status
Completed
Date
February 2008
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Box 870266
Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0266
205.348.0513