Agriculture is part of the legacy of the historic northwest Kansas town of Nicodemus in Graham County. In the late 1870s, freed slaves headed west and started a farming community in Nicodemus, the oldest and only remaining African American settlement west of the Mississippi River.
Descendants of those early settlers highlight the town’s history during an annual agriculture camp for students ages 10 to 17. The 2021 Switzer/KSU Ag Camp was held July 19 to 21. JohnElla Holmes, Ph.D., retired Kansas State University instructor, is the founder and director of Nicodemus Educational Camps.
The camp was named in honor of Nicodemus native, football All-American and Kansas State University Hall of Fame athlete Veryl Switzer. Holmes said Switzer is “a Kansas State great. His name is on the students’ section of the Snyder Family Football Stadium. He was a star athlete on the football and track field from 1950 to 1954, and he was drafted to and integrated the Green Bay Packers in 1954. He was the No. 4 pick in the first round draft in 1954.”
After returning from service in the U.S. Air Force and playing football in Canada, Switzer worked as an educator and administrator, then returned to K-State and served as associate director of athletics and assistant vice president of minority affairs before retiring.
“He started one of the first academic success programs in athletics,” Holmes said. While at K-State he also wrote a TRIO grant for Upward Bound, a Department of Education program that prepares students for post-secondary education.
Holmes said Switzer wanted to expand Upward Bound into agriculture and worked with Holmes to make that happen.
“He really wanted to do something that would make sure that our youth today understood what kind of pride there is in farming and owning your own land. He wanted to bring pride back into land ownership and farming, and he’s always believed that if you can feed your family then you are a success.”
Holmes said Switzer wanted to expose inner-city kids to agriculture, how diverse the degrees are, what opportunities are available and how agriculture continues to expand.
In 2005 Switzer and Holmes developed a curriculum modeled on the Upward Bound program, which resulted in the Switzer/KSU Ag Camp launching in 2007.
Experiential learning
“For the first two days of camp, we bring them to Kansas State University, where K-State’s College of Agriculture hosts them. They take them through all kinds of tours and they talk to professors, graduate students and a MANNRS [Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences] group,” she said.
Campers stay in the residence halls, eat in the dining hall and experience college life as they meet with university student mentors.
“Because of the high population of ethnic minority students, they get to see students who look like them that are actually majoring in agronomy, milling science, pre-vet and that sort of thing,” Holmes said.
They also expose campers to career options in agribusiness, ag economics, ag communications and related fields.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service leads part of the camp as well. One day of the camp is dedicated to water resources, conservation and sustainability, Holmes said.
In Osborne, Kansas, the campers meet with Extension agents and wildlife biologists to learn about erosion and how farmers and others use water, as well as what a precious resource it is and why it needs to be conserved. The youth also get to catch and release fish and see other wildlife on the trip.
The group then heads to Nicodemus to learn about the town’s heritage and visit area farms. During previous camps, students have been able to experience wheat harvest and take turns riding in a combine.
“They get to see Black-owned property and the pride and respect we have in that, and how we’re trying to increase agribusiness in this area,” Holmes said. For example, Angela Bates, executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society, is turning her father’s farmland into a lavender field and the old homestead into a guesthouse.
They work in a garden and learn about how to have a garden anywhere, such as a patio, driveway or hay bale garden. K-State provides campers with a plant they can take home after learning how to care for it. Campers also go horseback riding and fishing and enjoy other recreational activities while visiting Nicodemus.
The Kansas Black Farmers Association does fundraising for the camp and sponsors several scholarships. The organization funded a cabin in Nicodemus where the campers stay, and additional lodging is provided at the Bates farm.
As of 2019, the camp has served 600 students, and Holmes said she is very proud that of the campers who have reached their senior year, “We had a 100% graduation rate of all our campers.” She added that many of those students have gone on to receive higher education at a college, university or trade school. A few of the former campers have opted to pursue agriculture-related careers, too.
The education they receive about agriculture at the Switzer/KSU Ag Camp is valuable to campers even if they do not choose to make it a career. Holmes said organizers plan to include an alumni reunion for the 15th anniversary of the camp next year.
To learn more, visit www.nicodemuscamps.com.
Shauna Rumbaugh can be reached at 620-227-1805 or [email protected].
