Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
First Girl's Tomato Club in Texas
201 E. Main
Cameron, TX
Jail Museum lawn
The first Girl's Tomato Clubs in Texas were organized in
1912 in Milam County to acquaint young women in rural
areas with tomato production and canning techniques. At
the request of the United States Department of
Agriculture, Mrs. Edna Westbrook Trigg, a local high
school principal, agreed to undertake the project. She
organized eleven clubs throughout the county, with
members ranging in age from ten to eighteen. A similar
program for boys, the Corn Clubs, had been instituted in
Jack County four years earlier. Each member of the
Girl's Tomato Clubs was to produce a tomato crop on one-
tenth of an acre of land and then was taught proper
canning procedures. The girls exhibited their products
at Milano, Rockdale, the 1913 State Fair in Dallas, and
the Waco Cotton Palace. So successful were these
exhibits that several of the girls started college
education funds with the money they raised selling their
goods. As the state's first rural girl's organization
of its kind, the Tomato Clubs were forerunners of later
programs, including 4-H, that were initiated under the
supervision of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.
Over time, 4-H has expanded its scope but has
maintained the principle objectives of its predecessors.
Erected 1983
Texas' First Home Demonstration Agent
Edna W. Trigg, first home demonstration
agent in Texas.
Photo courtesy of and permission received
from Cushing Memorial Library and
Archives, Texas A&M University.
Copyright: If this photo is used in a publication
or website, proper citation is required. All
materials must be credited as follows: Cushing
Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M
University. It is the user’s responsibility to
secure permission from the copyright holders for
publication of any materials. Permission must be
obtained in writing prior to publication. Please
contact the Cushing Memorial Library for further
information. Phone: 979-845-1951, Fax: 979-845-
1441, Web: library.tamu.edu/Cushing, Email:
cushing-library@tamu.edu.