Interview with Levi Jackson Horlacher, September 21, 1984

Interview Summary

Levi Jackson Horlacher was born in 1896 in Washington Township, Clinton County, Indiana. Horlacher attended rural schools in Indiana and Kansas, and first became involved with agricultural extension in 1909 while attending high school in Frankfort, Indiana. He was later awarded a scholarship to Purdue University and was a member of the 1916 Purdue University Livestock Judging Team which won the National Collegiate Livestock Judging Contest at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Horlacher studied Animal Husbandry and received his B. S. degree from Purdue and his M. S. degree from Kansas State Agricultural College.

Horlacher recalls Dr. E. S. Good offered him a position at the University of Kentucky in 1918, and mentions the various positions he held during his tenure. He reads an extensively detailed early history of UK's College of Agriculture, which includes information on early faculty members, research projects, and the livestock judging teams. This history also mentions purchases of purebred foundation livestock, UK's difficulties in acquiring land, and changes to the curriculum.

Horlacher remembers that UK developed a wool-selling cooperative during World War I, and states that he was the only college professor in the country licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to grade wool. Horlacher supervised the livestock judging teams from 1919 until 1934, and also employed Harold Barber, a well-known sheepherder, who exhibited prize-winning sheep locally and nationally. Kentucky became known internationally for its sheep program.

Dean Thomas Poe Cooper asked Horlacher to become Assistant Dean so that he could work with students academically. After additional course work, Horlacher assumed this role in 1927. He recalls the effects of the Depression on faculty and students. He remembers the increased interest by women in pursuing an agricultural education, which began before World War I. He mentions his involvement with many professional organizations, and talks at length about the history of beef cattle in Kentucky. Horlacher was a Technical Training Leader in Iran, India, and Guatemala from 1953-1956. Horlacher retired from UK in 1964. He remembers his wife, Vaneta Thomas, who died in 1982, and he talks at length about his family.

Interview Keyword

Kentucky's Cooperative Extension Service University of Kentucky

Interview LC Subject

Agriculture. Horlacher, Levi Jackson, 1896- Horlacher, Levi Jackson, 1896- --Interviews Sheep University of Kentucky University of Kentucky. Cooperative Extension Service

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.