Graeber, Robert Walter, 1888-1967.
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Robert W. Graeber worked for 32 years in the North Carolina Agricultural Extension program. As head of the Forestry Extension, he influenced the founding of the North Carolina State College (later North Carolina State University) Forestry Department in 1929.
From the description of Robert W. Graeber papers, 1911-1949 [manuscript] (North Carolina State University). WorldCat record id: 535852048
Robert Walter Graeber was born January 1, 1888, in Mount Vernon, Rowan County, North Carolina . He attended Concord Public School and moved to Raleigh in 1907 to study at North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (later North Carolina State University). He graduated from A & College in 1911, with a B.S. in agriculture and again, in 1930, with a B.S. in Forestry (but the name of the institution had in 1917 been changed to North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering).
From 1911 to 1912, Graeber worked for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture as a dairy extension specialist and as a manager of Joyner Farms (private) in Pitt County . In 1913, he became a county agricultural agent in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where he started North Carolina's first Boys' Pig Club and held the state's first farm tour. He was the first North Carolina State College graduate to be employed as a full-time extension agent. After approximately four years as Mecklenburg's county agent, Graeber accepted a position in 1917 as county agricultural agent with Clemson College in South Carolina, and in that state's Lancaster County and Lee County . He returned to North Carolina, however, at the beginning of 1920, to serve as aounty agricultural agent in Iredell County until 1925. Major fertilizer companies credit Graeber with establishing the use of high-analysis fertilizer in the state as a result of a 1920-1921 campaign he conducted in Iredell County. During this time in Iredell County, Graeber also began a serious interest in forest management.
On December 1, 1925, Graeber became North Carolina's only extension forester . During his early years in this position, Graeber's efforts to educate North Carolinians about forest management stimulated the North Carolina Forestry Association to prompt the development of a four-year forestry curriculum at North Carolina State College in Raleigh. The Department of Forestry opened on September 19, 1929, and its first class of seventeen, including Graeber, graduated in 1930.
During his tenure as extension forester, the one-man extension program developed into a known and respected forestry program with a staff of eight, including the extension forester, by the time Graeber retired in 1949. Even though not a forester when hired, Graeber's enthusiasm and commitment for developing North Carolina's two fundamental resources of soil and forests buoyed the program as it grew into a recognized service to the state.
Graeber belonged to the Society of American Foresters, the American Forestry Association, the North Carolina Forestry Association, the Forest Farmers Association, Epsilon Sigma Phi (Extension Service Veterans), the Grange and Farm Bureau, and the Raleigh Executives Club . Graeber was active in the Lutheran Church and served as chairman of the council from 1946 to 1948. At the time of his retirement, Graeber resided in Raleigh and owned about 500 acres of woodland in Wake County and Guilford County, North Carolina.
Graeber was married to Margaret Emma Shepard of Guilford County, North Carolina. He died in Raleigh on July 19, 1967.
From the guide to the Robert W. Graeber Papers, 1911-1949, (Special Collections Research Center)
Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
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creatorOf | Graeber, Robert Walter, 1888-1967. Robert W. Graeber papers, 1911-1949 [manuscript] | North Carolina State University, NCSU Libraries | |
creatorOf | Robert W. Graeber Papers, 1911-1949 | North Carolina State University. Special Collections Research Center |
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associatedWith | 4-H Black Walnut Club |
associatedWith | 4-H Club |
associatedWith | A. C. VanHoy |
associatedWith | Ackermann |
associatedWith | C. Burris |
associatedWith | C. D. Sigmon |
associatedWith | C. E. Fulp |
associatedWith | C. J. Dellinger |
associatedWith | C. M. Icenhour |
associatedWith | Camp Sawannanoa |
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Birth 1888
Death 1967
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Graeber, Robert Walter, 1888-1967.
Graeber, Robert Walter, 1888-1967. | Title |
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