Local History with a Worldwide Reach
On Wednesday March 27 we hosted our Muster & Mingle at the Tipp Center in Tipp City. The Tipp Center has been an amazing partner with us since the beginning of our events. We enjoyed a dinner of homemade sloppy joes, cheesy potatoes and corn while socializing. After dinner, we heard from Craig Lichtenburg with the A.B. Graham Center. He led us through a presentation of a Miami County native who left a worldwide legacy.
A.B. Graham was born on Friday March 13, 1868. The son of Joseph and Esther Graham, he spent his childhood on what was considered a small farmstead at the time, only 87 acres. In February 1879, his life changed forever when his home went up in flames. In the attempt to escape, the whole family suffered burns. His father suffered the most, possibly from attempting to save the farm. He would succumb to his injuries, dying 8 days after the fire. The community of Lena rallied around the family, but it wasn’t enough to save the homestead. They moved into Lena and young A.B. began looking for work. All three began housekeeping and sewing. A.B. was already an accomplished sewer, piecing together his first quilt top at the age of 9! However, as the man of the house A.B. needed to take on a little more work to keep the family afloat. He worked a variety of odd jobs, gardening ($0.10/hour), chopping wood ($0.50/cord), and blacksmithing ($0.05/hour). It was from the Lena blacksmith that A.B.’s love of knowledge was ignited, as he was a former Irish Catholic priest who taught him Hebrew, Latin, and German.
A.B. was a member of the first high school graduating class from the Lena-Conover School. Before graduating, the idea of teaching was presented to him. A.B. replied, “That is what I have longed to do.” He passed his teaching exam easily and began his career, earning an impressive $42/month. After 2 years of teaching in Johnson Township, he attended the Normal School at Lebanon (now Wittenburg University) and graduated in 1888. He then attended the Ohio State University, graduating in 1890, getting married that same year to his childhood friend Maude Lauer. They had kept in touch via letters and fallen in love. A.B. was also penpals with her sister too!
Shortly after his marriage, he made the decision to devote his life work to education in rural schools. He worked in several schools over the years, and realized that society as a whole had a negative perception of rural life and farmers. He integrated agricultural twists into his lessons and began writing thought provoking newspaper columns supporting education.
On January 15, 1902 the first Boys and Girls Experimental Club meeting was held. A.B. wanted to bring rural children together to learn about the science behind their farm activities. While the lessons had the boys and girls segregated, they all learned all topics, Girls learned about soil testing and plant identification and the boys learned about gardening and growing flowers. This group was also ethnically diverse, which was a novelty for the time. After seeing the success of the club, A.B. wrote a letter to Ohio State, discussing the work of this club and the impact it had on the children who participated. This was the most important letter of A.B.’s life. Within 6 months he was the Agricultural Superintendent of Extension at the university, with his written materials being distributed to local schools and newspapers.
This was where the national program of 4H was born. A.B. traveled across the United States, visiting all lower 48 states and spreading the importance of agricultural education, As of 2016 there were 16,000,000 members and 25,000,000 alumni.
We are honored to have hosted Craig at our Muster & Mingle and we are looking forward to lots of fun events at the AB Graham center this year! Check out their website for more information and be sure to check out our Upcoming Events page to see where you can find us as we kick off the warm weather months.