UCCE Photography Exhibit Reception

By: Rebecca Gourevitch UC Merced Library

On May 5th, the UC Merced Library held a reception for UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) staff and community partners to view the Library’s photography exhibit, A Century of Impact in California's Counties: Highlights from the University of California Cooperative Archive. The group also examined archival documents from the California Agricultural Resources Archive (CARA), and learned about each other’s work related to agriculture and land management in the Central Valley.

The exhibit photographs are divided into five themes: farm advisor demonstrations, crop trials, labor, home demonstration agents, and California 4-H. While there are thousands of photographs in CARA, the selection of twenty images featured in the exhibit exemplifies the scope of work conducted by farm advisors and home demonstration agents throughout the twentieth century to improve agricultural practices, support youth development, and promote broader civic engagement throughout California. These include:

After viewing the exhibit on the fourth floor, guests viewed items from Cooperative Extension collections in the newly designated Library and Archives instruction room on the second floor of the library. On display were annual reports from the 1910s-1930s written by farm advisors and home demonstration agents from Cooperative Extension, Merced County, a 4-H scrapbook from Cooperative Extension, Mariposa County, livestock and land initiative documents by Cooperative Extension in Modoc County and photographs from various Cooperative Extension offices including a panorama photograph featuring advisors at a statewide conference in 1924.

Annual report

The selection of archival materials on display included: Emily Lin, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Archives & Special Collections, and Rebecca Gourevitch, California Agricultural Resources Archive (CARA) Project Archivist, presented on the Cooperative Extension archival project which began in 2016 when an agreement was formalized with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources members.

The reception was an opportunity for UCCE staff and campus affiliates involved in agricultural research to meet and network while also learning more about these historical resources.

All digitized materials found in the UC Cooperative Extension Archival collections are available to the public online.

Our findings aids are located in the Online Archive of California (OAC).

For more information regarding the California Agricultural Resources Archive at UC Merced Library, please contact Project Archivist Rebecca Gourevitch at rgourevitch@ucmerced. edu.

Grass, Merced, California, 1921 Merced County, UC Cooperative Extension Records UC Merced, UC Cooperative Extension Archive the content of the films. The films are now published and can be viewed online in Calisphere.

The event ended with conversations around future use of these important archival resources. The UC Merced Library looks forward to continued collaboration with UC Cooperative Extension partners and other community

This project was made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. A Major Initiatives grant from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission supported the development and digitization of the UC Cooperative Extension Archive.

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