Home demonstration clubs still meeting needs of their members and communities

 

February 26, 2020

My wife joined a local home demonstration club after we moved to the Sweet Grass Hills. I had not thought about those clubs since I was a kid. When I was growing up in southern Illinois my mom was active in what was called a 'home extension club.' The ladies met regularly and extension agents presented topics on food safety and cooking, sewing, child rearing and topics related to running a successful household.

I was interested to learn about the homemakers clubs in Blaine County (the clubs went by a variety of names even here in Montana). I found out things have changed in the last 65 years since my mom was active in her club. A major change is the clubs are no longer connected to the cooperative extension service. Many of the clubs simply disappeared while others adapted and continue to function. Here's some of what I learned about extension's homemaker clubs nationwide and specifically in Blaine County.


Historically the land grant colleges and the home demonstration clubs were partners

The Morrill Act, approved in 1862 gave each state lands to be used to create "land grant" universities. These land grant colleges, like Montana State University, still provide much of the training and research related to agriculture and house the cooperative extension programs for each state.

In 1914 the Smith-Lever Act made federal funds available to hire home demonstration agents to bring "expert" instruction on the subjects of home economics and agriculture to rural women. Agents worked through the land grant colleges' cooperative extension services. By 1951 there were 60,361 home demonstration clubs nationwide.


Judy Ward, a former Hill County home extension agent during 1964-72 and 1979-95, said "extension clubs fared well when times were tough." During the Great Depression of the 1930's rural women learned ways to survive with no money and limited access to fresh food. During World War II women learned to transition to new roles operating farms and ranches by themselves.

The clubs also provided rural women ways to socialize and learn from each other and to serve their communities. Ward said of the clubs she worked with along the Hi-Line, "They became like mini-chambers of commerce. They raised money for community projects, helped kids go to 4-H camp and, in many cases, on to college. They were the lifeblood of many communities."


Gene Surber, a former county agent and retired water specialist with the MSU Extension, said, "The role of rural wives changed as many took jobs in town and had less time to attend the homemakers clubs." Judy Ward added, "About the same time women enjoyed new resources to learn. Martha Stewart and others offered TV programs and publications that provided ideas about cooking, sewing and decorating. The internet and social media opened up additional ways to gain knowledge useful in the home." These factors reduced the importance of the homemakers clubs to rural women.

In the mid-1990's the national extension council built a new headquarters with plans to change the homemakers clubs from "dining table operations" to major outlets using the latest media and technology. To support this new outreach, the annual membership dues nearly tripled for club members. Vicki Niederegger, still a member of a functioning club said, "We decided the fee increase was too much. We just quit paying dues."

Dave Phillips, who once supervised the county extension agents in central Montana said, "We didn't leave the clubs, they left us." Judy Ward added, "I'm not sure the increase dues alone caused the separation of the homemakers clubs from the cooperative extension service but it was likely the final straw."

Homemaker clubs in Blaine County

The surviving homemaker clubs serve as a way for members to socialize and support activities in their respective communities. Here's something about the remaining homemaker clubs in Blaine County and a bit about the clubs that met the needs of so many rural women years ago.

In the north country the HHH Club (Hogeland Happy Housewives) has "8-10 members." It hosts an annual spaghetti supper and donates the funds to the local volunteer fire department. Members financially support the county fair, give to the Festival of Trees, provide refreshments for the school's Christmas program and do beautification plantings around the school. Now the oldest club still active in the county it was organized in May, 1931. Clubs no longer active on the Big Flat include Turner's ODO (Our Day Out) Club, the Lucky Ladies and the Modern Mrs. Club. The ODO was the oldest club in Blaine County, having organized in 1931 just a few months before the HHH Club.

Harlem's Domestic Engineers organized in the mid-1970's with the encouragement of the Busy XX, an older club dating back to 1949. Their major project is organizing the Interest Meeting on Saturday morning of the Seed Show. The club does "shoebox Christmas" for children through the Samaritan's Purse and a holiday box for an active military person with a local connection. They support their projects with funds from a silent auction held among members. The Domestic Engineers currently have 14 members. Former clubs in the Harlem area include the Busy Workers, dating to 1934, and the Busy XX.

The Lloyada Ladies have members from the Chinook area as well as the south country. They follow more of a traditional role of the clubs regularly "hosting a demonstration of some craft or cooking idea that members may find useful." To accommodate several members who work in the local schools, the club holds meetings late afternoon or on Saturdays. The Lohman Loyalites formed in 1934 and disbanded several years ago. The Fairview Country Club (south of Chinook) was an active homemaker's club from the late 1970's into the mid-1980's.

One member of a current club told, "There was more to the clubs than demonstrations about home economics. The socializing of the members, the adventures going to combined meetings with other clubs, the challenges of get togethers at some remote farm or ranch and supporting our communities was the essence of the clubs and why we belonged." The clubs still provide rural women with social connections and ways to help their communities.

 
 

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