4-Hand D.H. Hill Library are wrapping up the last of initiatives in a three-year process to celebrate the organization’s 100-year partnership with the University.

According to Jim Clark, retired English professor and 4-H youth development worker, the new exhibit displayed in D.H. Hill focuses on the University’s relationship with 4-H, both past and present.

“We wanted to present 4-H both in a historical context and in the experience of N.C State,” Clark said. 

The display, located in the hallway leading to D.H. Hill’s Learning Commons, features seven notable individuals, prominent among who are general Hugh Shelton and L.R. Harill, both N.C. State and 4-H alumni. 

Among other items, the exhibit includes Harill’s ROTC hat, harmonica and trophy for the 1963 Governor’s award, which the North Carolina Wildlife Federation awarded to Harill for the “conservation leader of the year.” Other items shown in the exhibit include photos, newspaper clippings, badges, and stamps focusing on 4-H history.

Mitzi Downing, extension assistant professor and specialist at the University’s department of 4-H youth development, said the implementation of this exhibit marks the concluding effort of their centenary celebrations, which began in 2009. 

“We’re trying to showcase the partnership and collaboration we share with the University from a historic and contemporary standpoint,” Downing said. “The exhibit is not just a museum. It has been created by mixing in the people who have occupied a critical position in our history and continue to do so. It defines the modern view of 4-H and shows what we are doing today.”

4-H is a part of the land-grant university system and works alongside the N.C. Cooperative Extension program at both N.C. State and N.C. A&T Universities, the state’s two land grant institutions. The North Carolina Extension Program’s volunteers provide guidance to the “4-Hers” by means of their involvement in clubs, summer camps, school enrichment and after-school child care.

Though the organization has different chapters in all 100 counties and hosts various youth development activities in each county, Downing said the 4-H program hosts a variety of other event on campus. 

“We host big leadership events on campus, such as the 4-H Congress which have a keynote speaker,” Downing said. “We also take our students on campus tours and introduce them to the University’s college recruiters.”

According to Downing, the exhibit will have an official grand opening for University officials in early March.

“We’ll be inviting all department heads, the provost and the Chancellor and other dignitaries to see the display, if they already haven’t done so,” said Downing. 

For D.H. Hill, this exhibit represents just one of their multiple initiatives to help make the library a more “culturally rich experience,” according to Lisa Carter, head of the library’s special collections research center.

“The exhibits are a key part of what the library is trying to do—involve students and faculty, and encourage them to learn more about the University,” Carter said. “This is a form of serendipitous learning.” 

The current exhibit will be on display until mid-summer of this year. Carter said while deciding on the displays for the special collection, they considered both recent as well as historical projects. 

“We want to make the library a medium through which people can learn and get to know about things they would never otherwise have a chance to,” Carter said. “The exhibits are a service program to students, faculty and other visitors that helps to make their experience with the library culturally rich.”

Student feedback for the displays, however, is something the library hopes will become more constructive. Carter said students can provide feedback by email and leave comments on the comment book placed in the display.

Carter said she hopes students will provide more feedback on the display; however, she said response so far has been mild, at best.

“We want students to play an active role in this,” Carter said. “Students and student organizations can also come up with ideas which have a universal theme and concern the N.C State community on a whole.”