Interview with Henry Corley Brown, June 10, 1985

Interview Summary

Henry Corley Brown was born in 1902 and grew up on a farm. He was the youngest of eight children. He recalls that four of his teachers at Elizabethtown High School were University of Kentucky alumni and encouraged him to attend UK. He describes visiting UK during their Farm and Home Week where he met Dean Thomas Poe Cooper and prominent farmers. Brown went to UK in the summer of 1924 to obtain a job before classes began. He was able to work in a greenhouse on the UK Research Farm. He states that he took care of the greenhouse all four years he attended UK. Brown graduated in 1928 and was interested in getting a county agent job right away.

Brown states that agriculture was always a large part of his life. After graduation he received additional training as a self-titled emergency county agent in Harrison, Fleming, Scott, Bath, Fulton and Graves County. Brown later became an assistant agent and an associate agent. Among other positions, he also served as a horticulture area agent. Brown describes the differences between central and western Kentucky counties and the impact of the Great Depression.

Brown lists some of the awards he received including those from the National County Agent Association, and Epsilon Sigma Chi Award. He talks about his membership with the Kentucky Farm Person's Radio Association, and his retirement. More recently, he has worked as a land consultant and written a book with Barney Arnold called Gardening with Confidence.

Interview Keyword

Kentucky's Cooperative Extension Service

Interview LC Subject

Brown, Henry Corley, 1902- Brown, Henry Corley, 1902- --Interviews University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History University of Kentucky. Cooperative Extension Service Agriculture

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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.