Field, Jessie (1881–1971)

American educator who founded the 4-H Club . Name variations: Jessie Field Shambaugh. Born Celestia Josephine Field on June 26, 1881, in Shenandoah, Iowa; died of pneumonia on January 15, 1971, in Clarinda, Iowa; fifth of eight children of Solomon Elijah Field and Celestia Josephine (Eastman) Field (both educators); attended Western Normal College, Shenandoah, Iowa; married Ira William Shambaugh, in 1917; children: stillborn son (b. 1919); Phyllis Ruth Shambaugh (b. 1922); (adopted) William H. Shambaugh; later had two more miscarriages.

Educator Jessie Field devoted her career to encouraging young people to become involved in agricultural activities. While teaching at a one-room schoolhouse in Iowa, she helped her students form a Boys Corn Club and a Girls Home Club, the goals of which were to help the boys develop better farming techniques and to teach the girls home-management skills. In 1906, when she became superintendent of schools for Page County, Field established Corn Clubs and Home Clubs in all of the county's 130 schools. To promote the program, she designed a three-leaf-clover pin with the letter "H" on each leaf (for Head, Heart, and Hands). A fourth H, designating Home, was added in 1913 (it now stands instead for Health). In 1914, under the auspices of the Federal Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the clubs became a national organization, under the name 4-H Club.

Field resigned as superintendent in 1912 to become the national secretary for the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in New York, a position she held until 1917, when she returned to her native Iowa. In her later years, she served as a national adviser to 4-H groups. Field wrote two autobiographies: The Corn Lady: The Story of a Country Teacher's Life (1911) and A Real Country Teacher: The Story of Her Work (1922).