The 100-year anniversary of the Smith-Lever Act, which officially created the national Cooperative Extension System, will be celebrated in 2014. Activities this year will highlight our past and focus on the current application of Cooperative Extension’s mission and vision as we move into our next century.
Smith-Lever Act (May 8, 1914)
An act signed (by President Woodrow Wilson) ... "to aid in diffusing among the people of the United States useful and practical information on subjects relating to agriculture, uses of solar energy with respect to agriculture, home economics, and rural energy, and to encourage the application of the same..."
-Rep. Asbury F. Lever, South Carolina
-Sen. Michael Hoke Smith, Georgia
ECOP (the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy) has established a national Centennial Committee to coordinate and support activities nationwide (www.Extension100Years.net). While celebrating Cooperative Extension’s heritage, the primary focus will be on contemporary efforts and launching Cooperative Extension for the next 100 years of educational programming that transforms the behavior of individuals, families, youth, farmers, communities, and businesses. The national efforts will be complemented by state and local activities.
Dr. Bobby Moser is the honorary chair of the Ohio Centennial celebration, and an OSU Extension executive committee has been convened to lead a few of the major centennial celebration activities during 2014.
More information is available at www.go.osu.edu/OSUEcentennial.