History of North Carolina’s History & Learning Center
The story of the North Carolina 4-H Museum that grew into the 4-H History & Learning Center really began more than 80 years ago in Cumberland County. It was there, in the depths of the Great Depression, that a young boy planted a plot of peanuts as part of a 4-H project and roasted them in his mother’s kitchen. Amidst the pleasing aroma of roasting peanuts, Rudolph Carl Ellis detected a scent of potential profit as well. At that instant, Ellis’ Fancy Peanuts was born. Ellis amassed enough money to put his tenant farming family into a new house on land of their own at the eve of the Second World War. The “House That 4-H Peanuts Built” was gifted by Dr. Sharon Ellis and is today the centerpiece of the North Carolina 4-H History & Learning Center Center at Millstone 4-H Camp in Ellerbe, North Carolina, where the house was relocated.
Led by Dr. Jim Clark, the state’s 4-H Historian, and endorsed by former State 4-H Leaders, a group of North Carolina 4-H alums came together to guide the development of the museum. Over the course of the next nine years, the group formulated a vision for a much larger footprint, developed processes for obtaining and jurying potential articles of NC 4-H history, created a marketing plan, and developed and executed a private resource development plan that includes two endowments. More than $3,000,000 was raised privately for the three phases of the project.
The first funding helped move the “House that 4-H Peanuts Built” to Millstone where it became the tangible first leaf of the 4-H Clover at the complex. Next came a beautiful Juanita Ogburn and Mack Hudson Courtyard and Gardens, funded by the Hudson’s son Kent and 4-H families throughout NC. In keeping with the clover leaf theme, the center of the Hudson Courtyard is formed into the shape of a 4-H clover as a gathering place for 150 campers and leaders. This Heritage Courtyard includes bricks and markers commemorating 4-H Century icons, families and clubs for all time.
The third phase of the complex is the State Employees Credit Union 4-H Learning Center, a 9840 sq feet building that includes a large auditorium and activities area, the Cole Foundation Auditorium, and the 4-H Hall of Leadership that houses exhibits and a historic timeline that helps guests travel through the journey from 1909 when 4-H was introduced in Halifax County, NC, to present day 4-H. 4-H alums and friends from across NC contributed to the success of this complex. A chorus of members can be heard during 4-H camp, teen retreats, alumni meetings, or other 4-H gatherings. Additionally, the facility is used by groups throughout the region to help sustain funding for the operation of the facility.
The final 4-H clover is the farm shop that will become a classroom to celebrate 4-H agricultural history that is still evolving.
The Link to 1939
Both the Ellis House and Millstone 4-H Camp where the History & Learning Center is housed were started in 1939. It was also fortuitous that on the day that 4-H Development Fund and 4-H staff went to discuss the possibility of accepting the Rudolph Carl Ellis Farm House as the heart of the 4-H museum, found a penny in the parking lot of the meeting location. Upon picking it up and examining it, the lucky person turned it over to discover the date, 1939.
North Carolina Green & Growing (a depository of 4-H history in our state)
North Carolina State University
2 Broughton Drive
Raleigh, NC 27695-7111
Contact:
Phone: 919.515.2273
E-Mail:
Website: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollections/greenngrowing/index.html
Green & Growing is a resource-based research and educational web site developed by the Special Collections Research Center at the North Carolina State University Libraries. Drawing upon the rich historical records found in the University Archives, the collection provides valuable information about women, children, race relations, education, agriculture, and rural life in North Carolina during the twentieth century. Through Green `N' Growing, users will be able to access digital reproductions of over 10,000 items, including photographs and pages from pamphlets, reports, and other materials, that document the history of 4-H and Home Demonstration in North Carolina from the 1900s to the 1970s. To further assist researchers, the site also presents essays on selected topics related to 4-H and Home Demonstrations, guides to primary resource materials held in the University Archives, and an annotated bibliography of books and periodicals related to the history of the organizations in the state.