Maynard Coe began his 4-H career in Minnesota. He worked with local schoolteachers to establish 4-H clubs but had difficulty recruiting local parents to serve as club leaders. Undeterred, he carried this idea to Kansas as State 4-H Leader. Although extension staff was skeptical, parents embraced the idea of community clubs, and they became a successful reality. Under Coe’ leadership from 1925-1945, 4-H expanded from 75 counties to all 105, reaching nearly 23,000 youth by 1939. Coe stressed the complete development of youth beyond the agriculture and homemaking content.
To improve club meeting, he created the Model Meeting contest. This grew to include public speaking, short plays and musical performances. This has continued for 81 years and is now known as Kansas 4-H Club Days. Other innovations guided by Coe were Kansas State Collegiate 4-H, a weekly radio program on University Radio and a published 4-H yearbook. Coe was a member of Rotary, Farmers Clubs, Eastern Star and Alpha Zeta. Coe was influential in many national 4-H events and served on a committee that created an Extension subcommittee on 4-H Club work by ECOP.
