Known throughout the state of North Carolina as Mr. 4-H, L. R. (Lera Rhinehart) Harrill was born in Cleveland County, North Carolina on November 10, 1897. Harrill attended grammar school and high school in Lattimore, North Carolina and went on to earn a B.S. and an M.S. in Agriculture from the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (later North Carolina State University). After graduating from North Carolina State College in 1922, Harrill worked briefly for the United States Department of Agriculture before becoming the County 4-H Club agent for Buncombe County, North Carolina. At that time, 4-H Clubs for farm youth were just beginning to be established as outreach and development programs sponsored by the county extension services that were affiliated with land grant colleges throughout the nation. In 1926 Harrill became the North Carolina State 4-H Club Leader. He held that position until 1963. In 1931, Harrill married Laura Weatherspoon of Raleigh. The couple had two children, James and Julia Anne.
In 1949 Harrill was selected to work with the United States military government that was responsible for the administration of the European theatre after World War II. Under the Marshall Plan of postwar reconstruction, Harrill helped to organize 4-H Clubs among the rural youth of Austria.
Harrill was a deacon at the First Baptist Church of Raleigh and served as the President of the Raleigh Rotary Club in 1957 and 1958. He was also a Master Mason and a member of numerous honorary societies and professional organizations including, Alpha Zeta Agricultural Fraternity, Epsilon Sigma Phi, the National Recreation Association, the National Camping Association, the National Farm Bureau, the National Grange and the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.
In 1950, State magazine named Harrill their North Carolina Man of the Year. In 1957, the Progressive Farmer also chose L. R. Harrill to represent their publication as the North Carolina Man of the Year. Harrill received a Superior Service Award from the United States Department of Agriculture in 1955 and in 1963 a joint resolution was passed by the North Carolina General Assembly recognizing his outstanding service to the state's youth through his leadership in the 4-H movement. After his retirement in 1963, he wrote two books, Images of 4-H and Memories of 4-H . In 1975, the Youth Center at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds was designated the L. R. Harrill Center in his honor. In March of 1978, North Carolina State University recognized L. R. Harrill with the institution's highest non-academic award, the Watauga Medal.
During Harrill's tenure as North Carolina's State 4-H Leader, the organization's annual membership increased from 20,000 to 160,000, the largest 4-H enrollment of any state in the nation. L. R. Harrill provided leadership to over three million young people during his time of service with North Carolina State 4-H. Throughout his career, he stressed the citizenship and character building aspects of 4-H, as well as promoting the development of the specific skills that could be gained from 4-H projects and demonstrations. He would often say to his staff, "It's a great thing to produce a grand champion 4-H steer, but unless you do something at the same time to produce a grand champion boy or girl, you have failed in your greatest responsibility."
L. R. Harrill died on April 18, 1978 at the age of eighty.
From the guide to the L. R. Harrill Papers, 1888 - 1988, (Special Collections Research Center)
