The Cooperative Extension System, as we know it today, had its beginnings at Tuskegee University in Alabama. The Cooperative Extension System connects farmers, ranchers, communities, and youth with educational opportunities — bridging the gap between academic researchers at land-grant universities and farmers & growers.

Thomas Monroe Campbell, a graduate of Tuskegee, was the first Black Extension Agent in the US.

Campbell began his career as a student and a protégé of Dr. George Washington Carver. After observing Campbell’s hard work and steadfastness in the study of agricultural science, Dr. Carver and Booker T. Washington petitioned the USDA to appoint Thomas Monroe Campbell its first Black Extension Agent.

In his pioneering work, Dr. Carver used a traveling classroom to work with small farmers on organic growing techniques such as cover cropping, crop rotation and composting. Campbell, known affectionately as T.M.,  used the same mobile classroom to assist rural farmers with different land management techniques.

Campbell saw the success of this model firsthand, and worked to expand the Southern Cooperative Extension efforts to other Southern states.  Because of his work, 11 Cooperative Extension offices were opened — and appointed several additional Black extension agents.

Campbell maintained his expansive career over 50 years, advancing from a county agent to a State Agent in Alabama.  Thomas Monroe Campbell was a significant influence on the development of the modern Cooperative Extension system, and we’re excited to celebrate and share his legacy here.