“S” is for Seigler, Marie Samuella Cromer (1882-1964). Educator, girls’ club founder. A native of rural Abbeville County, Seigler moved to Aiken County in 1907 to teach in a one-teacher school. Her career began in late 1909 when she heard a U.S. Department of Agriculture official extol the virtues of the Boys’ Corn Clubs of America at a state teachers’ meeting. In a few months she had created the Aiken County Girls’ Tomato Clubs—the first such group in the nation. By 1910 she had forty-seven girls in Aiken County enrolled. By 1913 some twenty thousand girls in the southern states were participating. The movement continued to grow and evolved into the 4-H Clubs for boys and girls. In 1954 President Eisenhower honored Marie Samuella Cromer Seigler for her role as a founder of 4-H.
“S” is for Seigler, Marie Samuella Cromer (1882-1964
