Many of you will recognize this picture of "County Agent" by Norman Rockwell which was painted back in 1948. The Original hangs in Hardin Hall on the East Campus of UN-L in Lincoln. Our Magazine Club is meeting tonight and I plan to report on a Smithsonian Magazine story on Rockwell. His Saturday Evening Post and Look Magazine covers were an attraction for many us us during his "hey-days" of the '40's, '50's and '60's. While the magazine story was interesting, I googled the County Agent and found an even more interesting story. It was written back in 1999 by Wes Jackson of The Land Institute near Salina, KS and quotes a University of Nebraska story about the painting. He tells of Clinton Hoover, Director of the Hall (called the Nebraska Center at that time) meeting Harold Ripley, the Co. Agent in the picture, as he and his wife stopped by to see the painting on their way back home from California. After learning of the Agent's name and that of the family, Wes followed up and learned that none of them were any longer involved in agriculture.
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