DRAWING THE LINE: Segregation in the NC Extension Service

North Carolina Extension Service work amongst white and black North Carolinians differed.  Clubs for African Americans did not begin until 1914, and even then were limited to youth only.  Headquarters for the black extension agents were not established until 1926, when North Carolina A&T became the home base for black agents.  Since North Carolina State University was segregated at the time and did not allow black students to enroll, the black extension agents had to work out of a different institution than the white agents.  As a land-grant college and a historically black college, NC A&T was the logical choice as headquarters for the African American branch of the Extension Service.  NC A&T still plays a major role in the North Carolina Extension Service today.

The African American branch of the Extension Service, or the "Negro Club," as it was often referred to, was conducted under the same general regulations and goals as the white clubs.  Just like white agents, black agents went out into their communities to assist farming families with better agricultural techniques and domestic skills.  However, the difference was that while white agents served both white and black families as needed, black agents were only sent out to serve other black families.  There is no doubt that the formation of the African American branch was important to the overall goal of the Extension Agency, but black work within the club was significantly marginalized compared to their white counterparts. 

Development of African American clubs was slow between 1914 and 1917.  This is due mainly to the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, which severely limited the public funding available for African American extension work as compared to white extension work, and restricted the use of private funds.  In short, white club members were being more heavily sponsored than black members, making it easier for them to participate in the various Extension Agency work.  Without funding, it was difficult for agents to travel to the rural communities where farming families were living, not to mention the difficulty of getting necessary supplies without the money to pay for them.      

The African American branch of the Extension Service really took off in 1919, when 41 African American emergency Home Demonstration Agents were hired to assist white county agents during the canning season only.  These agents were black women who reported to other white Home Demonstration Agents and their positions were temporary.  The first full-time African American Home Demonstration Agents were hired in 1922.  By 1936 the number of African American participants reached about 10,000.  Throughout the next two decades the black membership continued to grow, and in 1946 membership had reached about 30,000. African American Home Demonstration Clubs were not allowed to form their own statewide organization until 1940, before which they worked under the leaders of the white Extension Agency.  By 1945 the African American branch of Home Demonstration Agents changed their name to the State Council of Negro Home Demonstration Clubs.  During this time   

North Carolina 4-H officially integrated in 1965, meaning that racial segregation was no longer allowed to divide agents or participants according to their race.  Throughout the 1960s all the different areas of the North Carolina Extension Service integrated as well.  Even after the official integration, black agents mostly served black farming families and white agents mostly served white farming families.  This included the agricultural and livestock competitions that 4-H sponsored, as well as the community canning demonstrations that Home Demonstration Agents offered.  In general, both groups of people had a dislike or distrust for the other, so Extension Service work was said to be more successful when this distinction was made.  

Think of how limited African American farming families were by the limited funding and resources provided to their branch of the Extension Service in the beginning.  Additionally, by originally separating the white and black branch headquarters at NC State University and NC A&T, each branch was limited in what they could learn from the other.  As agents went out to teach in their communities, there is no doubt that they too were learning new farming practices.  By limiting the contact between white and black agents, the Extension Service was also limiting the information being passed onto farming families.