Lou Leviticus has never been fond of cleaning.

But, on a slow fall day at the Lester F. Larsen Tractor Test and Power Museum, the curator opted to finally empty an old file drawer.

“It was filled with what we thought were rags,” said Leviticus. “I started pulling them out and was about to start cutting them up when I unfolded one.”

That’s when he noticed hand-lettered words, a diagram and other miscellaneous markings on the 5-foot by 5-foot muslin sheet.

EXTENSION BY MUSLIN – Bill Splinter (left) and Lou Leviticus spread out a muslin sheet used for Extension purposes in the 1930s. Leviticus found 34 of the 5-foot by 5-foot sheets in a file drawer in the Lester F. Larsen Tractor Test and Power Museum.

“I started taking out others and unfolding them too,” Leviticus said. “Lo and behold, these aren’t just some junk rags to wipe up grease. These are something far more valuable, a treasure trove of university history.”

Consulting with Bill Splinter, director of the museum, the two examined the 34 muslin panels. The diagrams in red and black ink covered seven topics, grain storage, poultry housing, farmstead layout, farm house design and heating with an under-floor furnace. Download a PDF document showcasing all 32 of the muslin sheets here.

Many of the sheets are signed, either by the names of Whitfield or Barr. The Whitfield sheets have years ranging from 1930 to 1933.

“We believe these are Extension tools used for presentations in Nebraska communities in the early 1930s,” said Splinter. “Basically these are pre-PowerPoint presentations.”

Splinter said Extension educators in the 1930s would have had access to projectors that used glass slides. The sheets would have been used for lectures in places where electricity was still unavailable.

“We’re pretty sure these were used for Extension purposes in rural parts of the state,” said Elbert Dickey, dean of the Cooperative Extension Division. “Most of our classrooms at that time had electricity, so their on-campus use would have been limited.”

Leviticus and Splinter have continued to research the history of the sheets. No official documentation has been found. They do believe Whitfield is Wilber Allen Whitfield, an engineering student enrolled from 1927-28 and 1930-32.

The sheets would have been developed under the leadership of Ivan Wood, who served as Nebraska’s first Extension Agent in agricultural engineering (1919 to 1934). Wood was active in erosion control work in the early 1930s, traveling to many rural Nebraska communities to guide Civilian Conservation Corps projects.

“We have no idea how they got here in that file drawer, but we’re just glad to have found them,” said Leviticus. “This is really a nice slice of university history.”

The sheets will be on display in the East Union Loft Gallery from Dec. 1 into January. Splinter said the plan is to present one or two of the muslin lectures, rotating the selection ever two weeks.

An exhibit opening is planned for 12:30 p.m. Dec. 1 in the third-floor gallery.

After the exhibition, the sheets will be transferred to the University Archives for preservation.

“We want to be sure we get these things in proper climate control,” said Leviticus. “We want these sheets to be appreciated and available for future generations.

“We don’t want to keep them there here in this old, leaky building. You don’t want to having some other guy cut them up into rags in a couple of years.”

— Story and photos by Troy Fedderson, University Communications

Classic Extension on display

The 32 muslin panels used by Extension during the early 1930s will be on display in the East Union Rotunda Gallery from Dec. 1 through January. The panels will be rotated every two weeks, allowing the seven different lecture topics to be featured. An opening celebration is 12:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at the gallery (third floor of the East Union). The opening and the gallery are free and open to the public.

Download a PDF document showcasing all 32 of the muslin sheets here.