Gladys Knapp

Gladys Knapp has provided annual scholarships for 4-H campers since 1966. She does so because 4-H and WVU Jackson?s Mill have been a big part of her life.

A 4-H member in Marshall County for 10 years, Mrs. Knapp first came to Jackson?s Mill when she was 10 years old. She?s been going back to the Mill practically every year since.

?At Jackson?s Mill, I met people who have become my life-long friends,? she said.

Her experiences in 4-H helped her to choose Extension work as a career. After serving as a home demonstration agent in Mercer County for two years, she became West Virginia University?s first Extension home management specialist. After her retirement in 1960, she served for a year as acting assistant dean, director, and professor of home economics at WVU.

A Moundsville native, Mrs. Knapp earned her bachelor?s degree in home economics from WVU in 1935 and a master?s degree from Cornell University in 1938. She served for 26 years on the West Virginia 4-H Foundation?s board of directors. She helped to raise funds for the ?Room with a West Virginia View? at the National 4-H Center, near Washington, DC. She is a member of the West Virginia 4-H All-Stars and the West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame. For her Outstanding contributions to 4-H, she received the 4-H Alumni Recognition Award in 1977 and was inducted into the West Virginia 4-H Hall of Fame in 2004.