The International Farm Youth Exchange (IFYE) was founded in 1948 to promote greater international understanding and cooperation through a 6-month exchange program. Iowa 4-H clubs participated in IFYE throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The collection contains letters written by Iowa IFYE delegates sent to family and friends back home, documenting their experiences as part of the exchange program.

The International Farm Youth Exchange (IFYE) was founded in 1948 by the National 4-H Foundation after World War II to promote greater international understanding and cooperation. The first two-way exchange took place that year, with seventeen young Americans traveling to seven different countries in Western Europe and six Europeans traveling to the United States to live with host families for six months. It was this exchange that led to the development of IFYE. The program was funded in the United States by the National 4-H Foundation and later by the National 4-H Council. In 1973, IFYE changed its name to International Four-H Youth Exchange.

Iowa 4-H clubs participated in IFYE throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Source

"History: A Short History of The IFYE Association of the USA, Inc." IFYE Association of the USA, Inc. 2015. Web. 22 July 2015. <http://ifyeusa.org/about/history.html>

Schwieder, Dorothy. 75 Years of Service: Cooperative Extension in Iowa. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1993.

This collection (1963-1975) contains letters written by Iowa IFYE delegates sent to family and friends back home, documenting their experiences as part of the exchange program.

Related collections in the Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library include:

• 4-H Youth Development Records (RS 16/3/4)
• Iowa 4-H Foundation Subject Files (RS 16/3/7/1)
• Paul C. Taff Papers (RS 16/3/56)
• William Homer Stacy Papers (RS 16/3/57)
• IFYE Association of the USA (MS 695)
• IFYE Foundation of the USA (MS 696)

The files are arranged alphabetically by country. Each country file may contain more than one delegate's correspondence.