Arthur Capper was co-owner of Capper Publications, which included the “Farmers Mail and Breeze.” In 1901, Capper started the “Mail and Breeze Golden Rule Club” for urban and rural youth who pledged to protect songbirds and other useful birds, to practice temperance in all things, and to observe the Golden Rule. In 1907, the “Farmers Mail and Breeze” promoted the Kansas State Agriculture College’s Experiment Clubs’ Corn Contest that led to the first corn clubs in Kansas, later known as the Capper Boys’ Corn Clubs. By 1911, state prizes were also granted in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri. The clubs were considered the first boys’ corn clubs in the West and grew to include tomato, beef, poultry, swine, and colt clubs for boys and girls.
Capper was in the group that organized the national Committee on Boys’ and Girls’ Club Work in 1918 and helped to get government backing for 4-H. The Capper-Ketchum Act provided for permanent federal funds through agricultural extension. He gave college scholarships to members and made a contribution to purchase Rock Springs 4-H Center. While Senator, he met with Kansas 4-H’ers attending the “National 4-H Camp,” guided them around the Capitol, and often entertained them for lunch in the Senate dining room. In 1915, Capper established a loan program for youth to purchase pigs or poultry that continued until the depression. In 1938, Capper reluctantly relinquished his clubs that pioneered 4-H. He died in 1951.
