THE BIG SIX / 004 / TRAINING
Thomas Monroe Campbell
Take Knowledge to the People.
The historical record
The Alabama Cooperative Extension System recognizes Thomas Monroe Campbell as the first African-American Extension agent. A Tuskegee graduate, Campbell carried agricultural education into rural communities through the Movable School of Agriculture and the Jesup Agricultural Wagon.
His work grew beyond Alabama. He supervised Black Extension staff in several Southern states and retired in 1953 after 47 years of service. Demonstration was not simply a way of presenting information; it brought instruction closer to the people who needed to use it.
Historical source: Alabama Cooperative Extension System — Remembering Thomas Monroe Campbell, February 19, 2024.
The T&T principle: training
Good training makes knowledge usable. Our approach begins with showing a process, giving learners a chance to practice and connecting the skill to a real production or business problem.
At DRT, the goal is not to hold knowledge in one place. It is to help people carry it back into their own communities—as growers, workers, teachers and entrepreneurs. That is why demonstration, research and training belong in the same environment.
A question to carry forward
What prevents useful agricultural knowledge from reaching the people who could put it to work?
“Take Knowledge to the People” is T&T’s interpretive brand statement, not a quotation attributed to Campbell. No estate or institutional endorsement is implied.
