Film producers and fans of film history as well as educators and historians of early rural farm life will want to see the “Film Fest to Celebrate 100 Years of Cooperative Extension,” on Tuesday, May 6, noon to 2:00 p.m., in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, Penn State University Park. The event is open to the public, and visitors may attend any part of the program.

Selected silent and black and white films and film clips display early cinematic techniques and demonstrate how humor was incorporated with the content to note the “new” technology on the farm and in the home. The films were shown to rural families in the early part of the twentieth century and today they give an unforgettable glimpse of life in the early 20th century.

Following the films from 2:00–3:00 p.m., Jan F. Scholl, Ph.D. and CFCS, an extension specialist and associate professor in the Department of Agricultural, Economics, Sociology and Education (AESE), will lead a short presentation and question and answer period that discusses how Cooperative Extension began as an outreach initiative of the University that continues today. Scholl has published many refereed articles on cooperative extension history, and she was the first American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Centennial Scholar.

The event is part of the AESE M.E. John Seminar Series in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education and is co-sponsored by the Penn State University Archives.

For more information about the program, please contact Jan Scholl at jscholl@psu.edu or 814-863-7444. If you anticipate needing accessibility accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Jackie Esposito at jxe2@psu.edu or 814-863-3791.