Celestia Josephine "Jessie" Field Shambaugh (21 June 1881 – 15 January 1971) was an American educator and activist known as the "Mother of

4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...

Clubs."Longden, Tom
Famous Iowans: Jessie Field Shambaugh.
''

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junctio ...

Life and career

Jessie Field Shambaugh is called the "Mother of 4-H." She started after-school clubs in 1901 while teaching at Goldenrod School in Page County, Iowa. She was born near

Shenandoah, Iowa Shenandoah is a city in Page and Fremont counties in Iowa, United States. The population was 4,925 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. Once referred to as the "seed and nursery center of the world," Shenandoah is the home to Earl May Seed Compa ...

on Sunnyside Farm to Solomon Elijah Field Sr. and Celestia Josephine Eastman Field, she graduated from Shenandoah High School in 1899 and Tabor College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1903. She taught in

Antigo, Wisconsin Antigo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Langlade County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,100 at the 2020 census. Antigo is the center of a farming and lumbering district, and its manufactures consist principally of lumber, ...

, Shenandoah, Iowa, and Helena, Montana before becoming superintendent of schools in

Page County, Iowa Page County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,211. The county seat is Clarinda. The county is named in honor of Captain John Page of the 4th U.S. Infantry, who was mortally wounded in t ...

in 1906. While principal of Jefferson School in Helena, Montana, her brother, Henry Arms Field, sent a letter which asked her to come back to Page County because there was an opening. In 1906, Jessie became superintendent of Page County's 130 country schools. She was paid $33.50 a month. She bought a horse and buggy so that she could visit each school three times a year. In 1910, she designed a three-leaf-clover pin with the letter "H" on each leaf, representing "head," "hands" and "heart." A fourth leaf for "home" later became "health." She was the author of Country Girl Creed and used the 3-Leaf Clover Pin as an award medal for club work. "The motto for all our clubs was: TO MAKE OUR BEST BETTER. All the club activities were meant to enrich country living. By 1912 they were called 4-H clubs, and the national 4-H organization was formed in 1914. She organized Boys Corn Clubs and Girls Home Clubs as school teacher in 1901. When she became the Page County School Superintendent in 1906, she organized Boys Corn Clubs and Girls Home Clubs in all 130 country schools. Students developed their Head, Heart, and Hands in her 3-H Clubs that included camps, exhibitions and judging contests. Field moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1912 to work for the national

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

. She accepted a position as the secretary for the National Young Women's Christian Association. She also was the National Secretary for Rural Work in Small Towns. During this period of her career, Jessie wrote a civics textbook, The Corn Lady (1911) and A Real Country Teacher, all three which were used to train rural schoolteachers. She married Ira William Shambaugh in Redlands, California on June 9, 1917. They had a son and a daughter, William Harding Shambaugh and Ruth Shambaugh Watkins. Jessie died in

Clarinda, Iowa Clarinda is a city in and the county seat of Page County, Iowa. It is located in Nodaway Township. The population was 5,369 at the time of the 2020 census. History Clarinda was founded in 1851, and incorporated on December 8, 1866. Many stori ...

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

following a fall.Staff report (January 18, 1971). "Jessie Shambaugh Dead; A Founder of 4-H Clubs". ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Legacy

The Jessie Field Shambaugh Post Office Building, named that in 2021, is at 101 South 16th Street in Clarinda, Iowa. There are now 4-H clubs nationwide.

References

External links

Jessie Field Shambaugh Papers
via

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shambaugh, Jessie Field 1881 births 1971 deaths People from Clarinda, Iowa 4-H People from Shenandoah, Iowa Educators from Iowa American women educators American activists Tabor College (Iowa) alumni