After retiring from state 4-H staff, Ben Powell returned to his sheep farm in Watertown, Tennessee.
Key historical figures might include George Washington or Thomas Edison, but for Tennessee 4-H, there is no doubt that Ben Powell is among the top. Throughout his career, Powell consistently created new programs and events to improve the organization, which are now staples both locally and nationally.
While he is quick to credit everyone else involved, Powell earned credit for creating or revitalizing many 4-H programs, events and opportunities.
“Not one other individual who has left a lasting legacy on Tennessee 4-H can hold a light to the accomplishments of Ben Powell,” says Ruth Henderson McQueen, who worked with Powell at the state 4-H office for many years.
Ben Powell with Ruth Henderson McQueen
See more: Ruth Henderson McQueen Earns National Recognition
Rural Roots
A native of Watertown, Powell began his 4-H career like many others with his beef and sheep projects. However, the sheep program looked drastically different back in the day. Rather than preparing sheep for show through exercising, shearing and training animals, Powell’s sheep project was simple – select four lambs from the flock and take them out for presentation, as did all the other 4-H’ers in the sheep program.
“I started my sheep project when I was 3 years old, and I enjoyed it,” Powell says. “At that point, there wasn’t even a show for lambs.”
When Powell was entering high school, he had a difficult decision to make. At the time, young people had to choose between being a 4-H’er or an FFA member. After being involved in 4-H throughout grammar school, he donned a blue jacket to give it a try.
Ben Powell and 4-H’er Kimbery Cartrell at Tennessee 4-H Congress
“I had a good ag teacher, Mr. Harry Love, who helped me through lots of things,” Powell says. “As an FFA member, I was lucky enough to be a state officer and selected for the National FFA Band to go play in Kansas City, Missouri.”
Ben Powell, A Local Legend
After high school, Powell attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and graduated with two majors in agriculture and education in 1959. While he had originally planned to be an agriculture teacher and lead an FFA chapter, after college, he took his first job with UT Extension in Rutherford County as an agent. During his 10 years in that role, Powell began trailblazing and, with the help of fellow county staff, secured a 4-H club in every school in Rutherford County.
“We were two schools away from our goal when they both finally welcomed us,” Powell says.
Another accomplishment was establishing an interstate exchange program and exchanging with five states over the years. Later, other counties adopted Powell’s program as a prototype. He also established the Tennessee 4-H Chorus and toured 4-H’ers around the state performing, including at 4-H Roundup.
Ben Powell overseeing the Vol State Ceremony in the 1990s
During his tenure in Rutherford County, Powell met fellow county agent Charline Hamilton while leading one of the camps. The two were friends and worked together in different counties for a few years, including dating long-distance for one year while Charline took a role with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After returning home, the couple was married, and Charline moved to Rutherford County.
“She was my right-hand man,” Powell says of his late wife.
“I’m sure Charline was a magnificent agent, but there’s never been a better 4-H adult volunteer leader than Charline Hamilton Powell,” McQueen emphasizes. “From my years of having the opportunity to work with her, I can say that she was the ultimate.”
See more: All It Takes Is Raising Your Hand to Volunteer
Ben Powell at Tennessee 4-H Congress in the 1990s
State Staff Success
They soon had their first two children, Thomas and Mark. In 1969, the Powell family of four moved to Knoxville when Powell joined the state staff, and they welcomed their third child, Amy, soon after.
“Back then, you didn’t apply, but you were invited to join the state staff in an open position,” Powell says.
He was promoted to state leader in 1981. Throughout his tenure as state program leader, Powell brought the organization into a new era as it was recognized as one of the nation’s leading programs.
“‘Opportunities’ is always the word that Ben would use to encourage us and help us focus,” McQueen says, reflecting on working with Powell in the state office. “For me, in adult education, he helped me focus on opportunities to improve education, but I can tell he used that to encourage himself, and that’s why so many of these programs and accomplishments happened; he was always looking for the best opportunity for others.”
Amazing Achievements of Ben Powell
A few of his crowning achievements are creating the Tennessee 4-H Academic Conference, the achievement recognition program for Honor Club, All Stars and Vol State, and founding the Tennessee 4-H Livestock Exposition, which quickly became one of the largest in the country.
Ben Powell overseeing the Vol State Ceremony in the 1990s
See more: Alumni Spotlight: Ben Powell
“Academic Conference is one I’m proud of,” Powell says humbly. “We would bring in 10 young people, usually seventh and eighth graders, and expose them to the university and their subject matter specialists. That experience led them to attend college in those areas.”
He launched the international exchange program with the Labo Foundation in Japan, and his family hosted the first international students in Tennessee. He was fundamental in forming the Tennessee Association of Extension 4-H Workers (TAE4-HW) and the Tennessee 4-H Alumni.
See more: About TAE4-HW
Powell documented the history of 4-H by helping establish its comprehensive literature library and published the organization’s history book, Tennessee 4-H History. For 15 consecutive years, Tennessee had more national 4-H project winners than any other state.
The beginning of the Tennessee 4-H Alumni in 1975.
See more: Tennessee 4-H Alumni & Friends Celebrates 50 Years
Saving National Congress
“He told me once, ‘Congress isn’t about Congress, it’s a carrot. It’s what gets them involved and coming back,’” McQueen says. “He believed in National 4-H Congress and the Chicago experience.”
There was a movement in the 1980s to get rid of National 4-H Congress, but Powell used his savvy, resources and connections to restructure and save the event.
“I saw the greatest political maneuvering of my career watching Ben Powell marshal the resources across the country to save National 4-H Congress,” McQueen says.
See more: National 4-H Congress
“Some of us ‘renegades’ didn’t like that,” Powell says with a laugh. “The state leaders from Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas got together and decided we could have our own National Congress in Memphis, and we did, and other states joined us. We had an outstanding program there for two years until it moved to Atlanta.”
Powell’s work enabled generations of 4-H members to experience the event since then.
Ben Powell and his children: Amy, Mark and Thomas
Headed Home
Powell retired in 1997 and moved back home to help his son, Mark, on the family farm, Linwood Farm, in 2002.
However, Powell didn’t let 4-H stop with him and his career, but his children, and now his grandchildren, have also been very involved. Both Thomas and Amy served as state 4-H council presidents, and Mark served as vice president. Mark and his children, Grace, Anna and Sarah, have been very successful in their sheep program and his youngest, Sarah, attended National 4-H Congress in fall 2025 as the state’s sheep winner. Amy’s children are getting their feet wet in 4-H with their fledgling sheep project, which they bring from the family farm in Wilson County up to their home in Iowa.
“For me, personally, 4-H gave an opportunity for children of a low-income family to participate in building life skills,” Powell says. “Learning by doing is the way to go, and that’s the way 4-H goes. Providing those opportunities for young people and their parents to have the time and effort to participate is just so important.”