ANNIE PETERS HUNTER

Not much is known about Mrs. Annie Peters Hunter.

Mrs. Hunter was from Alabama and was the first federally appointed Black home demonstration agent (in Oklahoma). In fact, she was doing Extension work 2 years before the Smith-Lever Act created the Cooperative Extension Service! She was an agent for more than twelve years, and her work helped to bolster the prosperity of Black families. As an agent, she helped families learn how to conserve resources, create income, and safely raise and preserve enough food to get them to the next growing season.

One source mentioned she attended Alabama A&M College and Talladega College.

One of the communities she served as an agent was Boley, Oklahoma, which was the largest predominantly Black town in the US at the time. She also operated in Guthrie, Kingfisher, Langston, Muskogee, and Oklahoma City. In addition to helping educate women and girls on conservation, food safety, and earning income, Mrs. Hunter left her mark on Extension work with her canning procedures. She designed a large set up for hot water canning which remained in used until the 1940s. Her design was efficient and enabled the community to process 500 quarts a day.

Though food conservation was the main curriculum taught, rural women were also interested in labor-saving techniques that would improve quality of life. For example, agents taught rural women how to make and install fireless cookers, iceless refrigerators, ironing boards, shower baths, and more. They also conducted an extensive wheat-saving campaign throughout WWI, and the entire state gave 667 demonstrations on how to make several kinds of bread!

Mrs. Annie Peters Hunter left her mark on home demonstration and paved the way for Black Extension agents.
Like I mentioned earlier, *I* didn’t find a whole lot about Mrs. Hunter on Blu Ivy’s internet. But, I encourage you to continue the search, Young Scholar, and let me know what you find!!

Resources
https://news.okstate.edu/articles/human-sciences/2017/an-extension-pioneer.html
https://www.theforumjournal.org/2012/05/03/annie-peters-hunter-one-of-the-first-extension-home-demonstration-educators/

In Solidarity,