Press Releases -- February 1998

North Carolina A&T State University

School of Agriculture


February 17, 1998

Since 1926, Black History Month has developed into a major national observance. In this spirt, this press packet will highlight the history and development of minority involvement in agriculture. If you would like more information on the following stories, call Mitch Arnold at (336) 334-7049.

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Mitch Arnold, news editor

* Agriculture an Important Part of Black History ­ Between 1920 and 1992, the number of black-owned farms decreased from 925,000 to 18,000, or from 14 percent to one percent of all farms in the country. The 514 percent decline in farm ownership by African Americans is even more alarming, considering the rich history of African-American farmers.

* 1862, 1890 Land-Grant Institutions, What's the Deal? ­ In North Carolina's bustling atmosphere of higher education and technology development, it's sometimes easy to overlook the influence that agriculture and the state's two land-grant institutions have had on North Carolina history.

* Early Black Agricultural Educators Overcame Adversity ­ Land-grant institutions and the people who once walked their halls played significant roles in the history of black North Carolinians. For evidence of this, one need look no further than North Carolina A&T State University's Agriculture Hall of Fame.

* NC A&T School of Agriculture Addresses Unique Careers for Minorities ­ African-Americans are vastly underrepresented in agriculture and the natural sciences, but programs in the North Carolina A&T State University School of Agriculture are working to rectify that.

* NC A&T Program Awakens Latent Leadership Potential ­ "I don't know anything about government" and "Let someone else take care of it" are common utterances by many who are unsatisfied with their community's conditions. A leadership development program, coordinated by the North Carolina A&T State University Cooperative Extension Program, seeks to change the tone of those statements.