Luther Duncan
| Luther Duncan | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 14, 1875 Rockwood, near Russellville, Alabama |
| Died | July 26, 1947 (aged 71) API, Auburn, Alabama |
| Education | B.S., M.S., Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) |
| Occupation |
4-H Pioneer Educator Administrator |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Smith |
| Parent(s) | Thomas A. and Margaret (Hargett) Duncan |
Luther Noble Duncan (October 14, 1875 – July 26, 1947) was a 20th-century American educator and administrator. He was a pioneer of 4-H youth development, a director of the Alabama Extension Service (now Alabama Cooperative Extension System) and president of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University).
Duncan was born near Russellville in the northwest Alabama county of Franklin. In 1896, he boarded a train to enroll at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API) in Auburn, Alabama, where he eventually emerged as a student leader. To support his college career, he taught during the summer at a rural school near his home for $25 a month.
Following graduation, Duncan returned to his native northwest Alabama to teach for a short time in a rural county school before taking an instructor’s job at an agricultural school in Wetumpka in east Alabama. He held several other teaching jobs in various parts of Alabama before returning to Auburn to work as an instructor and research worker under the direction of famed agricultural scientist and researcher J.F. Duggar.
Duncan’s work with API took him to almost every county in Alabama. His work with farmer institutes and similar types of efforts strengthened his knowledge of an informal type of educational outreach that eventually became known as Cooperative Extension work. He was especially influenced by the work of Seaman A. Knapp, an early Extension educational pioneer. During this early stage of his career, he also completed his master's degree at API in 1907.
Duncan eventually was appointed a professor of Extension in API’s school of agriculture, jointly employed by API and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and charged with serving as a “demonstration expert.” His work involved organizing demonstrations at schools and other agriculture-related venues to encourage youth and adults alike to adopt cutting-edge agricultural practices pioneered at API and other land-grant universities throughout the nation.
In this position, Duncan played an instrumental role organizing boys (or corn) clubs through the state — a movement that eventually would be combined with girls clubs to form what later became known as 4-H. By 1909, the state had more than 2,000 corn club members. By 1911, the number had grown to 10,000 members.
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