Jane Simpson McKimmon embodied the spirit of Think and Do long before NC State University adopted it as its brand theme.

The McKimmon Conference and Training Center was built in 1976 and named in her honor. NC State Continuing and Lifelong Education’s main office is housed here, and staff continue to respond to the needs of the times — just as McKimmon helped others do in the 1900s.

Refrigeration and frozen food preservation are taken for granted today. But in the early part of the last century, canning fruits and vegetables was the primary way the average family preserved produce. Teaching others how to preserve food safely through canning was important work. “Home demonstration” taught girls and women first to observe, and then do. 

McKimmon, born in 1867, was a pioneer in this field. In 1908, she became the state director of the women’s division of the Farmers’ Institutes, and in 1911 she was named North Carolina’s first home demonstration agent. Later, she was promoted to assistant director of the NC Agricultural Extension Service, a position she held from 1937 until her retirement in 1946. Given that her work spanned two world wars and the Great Depression, one can imagine her impact.

Both the Farmers’ Institutes and home demonstration work brought learning to the communities where North Carolinians lived. The Farmers’ Institutes shared science-based, advanced farming techniques; home demonstration focused on horticulture and home economics. One of McKimmon’s first responsibilities was managing the newly-created Tomato and Canning Clubs for girls. Corn Clubs for boys had been established by I.O. Schaub in 1909, and McKimmon was charged with setting up a similar, but different, 4-H club for girls. Sales of the canned tomatoes brought in needed extra income for farm families, and McKimmon also established home demonstration programs for women that encompassed the full range of home economics. During this time, extension clubs were kept separate — boys from girls; women from men; Black people from white people. After World War II, the Boys and Girls Clubs merged, but racial segregation in the 4-H clubs remained until 1964.  

Reports from the era show that McKimmon quickly made a difference. By 1914, there were tomato clubs in 32 counties, and she expanded the number of home demonstration agents from just her to 37. As these 4-H clubs and home demonstration activities grew, the types of products diversified. A July 1917 Extension Circular (archival PDF) written by McKimmon gives extremely detailed instructions on how agents and club members must adhere to the 4-H brand when canning and preserving a variety of fruits and vegetables. By 1926, there were 52 counties engaged in home demonstration work for white women and girls and six for Blacks, with a total enrollment of 29,945. McKimmon’s 1926 annual report noted that the enrollment number “includes 584 men and 1,162 boys who were so much interested in home-making subjects that they attended women’s and girls’ clubs.” (p. 8)

Girls in the tomato canning clubs submitted reports, often with illustrated covers, detailing why they joined the club, and describing their cultivation techniques and sales results. Many of these girls were not only excellent horticulturists, following the guidelines set out by McKimmon, but also shrewd marketers. The money raised was not small change. One 1916 report (archival PDF) from sisters Margaret and May Belle Brown noted: “We find the fancy grocery stores are the best places to get top-of-the-market prices for our tomatoes and we never peddle them out to the houses as some people do.” Their report gives a detailed accounting of expenses and income, totaling a five-year profit of $890 — more than $25,000 today. 

McKimmon was a remarkable woman and received many honors during her career. She graduated from Peace Institute in 1884 at the age of 16. She married and had four children. In 1927, amid her successful career, she became one of the first three women to be granted a bachelor’s degree from NC State, a B.S. in Business Administration. In 1929, she went on to earn her master’s degree from NC State and later received an honorary law degree in 1934 from the University of North Carolina. 

She was the first woman to receive the “Distinguished Service Ruby” from Epsilon Sigma Phi, the national honor fraternity for extension professionals. She played important home-front roles in both world wars. During World War I, she was named director of home economics and helped direct the food program. During World War II, she served on the State Council of National Defense. 

In 1945, she published a memoir of her work, When We’re Green We Grow. Her life was dramatized in an NBC radio show in 1949, Cavalcade of America. This program dramatized historical stories of individuals who positively impacted the lives of others. Jane McKimmon died in 1957, at the age of 90. 

During her career, one of McKimmon’s responsibilities was to oversee the curriculum and instructors for annual week-long short courses held at the State College (former name of NC State University) campus. These included short courses for white farm women, home demonstration agents, and girl’s club members. North Carolina A&T College (now known as North Carolina A&T State University) organized short courses for Black girl’s clubs and home demonstration agents. 

Over time, McKimmon and her colleagues began to advocate for an on-campus facility where the many continuing education and extension courses could be held. After McKimmon’s retirement, the agents who succeeded her began to contribute a portion of the money they raised from selling butter and eggs to a fund for this purpose. By 1966, they had raised $100,000 and lobbied the North Carolina General Assembly for additional money to construct such a building. In 1976, the McKimmon Conference and Training Center was built and named in McKimmon’s honor.

McKimmon was born two years after the end of the Civil War and lived to the middle of the next century. McKimmon’s work – in food preservation, poultry-keeping, horticulture, nutrition, cooking, clothing, and home improvement –  had an enormous impact, both economic and societal, on the lives of North Carolinians in the first half of the 20th century.

McKimmon’s legacy continues to shape the future of continuing and lifelong education into the next century and beyond.