The Spring Valley Home Economics Extension Club was part of the a national movement of Extension Clubs. The Cooperative Extension Service is an educational agency of state land-grant colleges and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) created in the early 1900s to address rural agricultural issues. The agency, which started at a time when more than 50 percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas and 30 percent of the workforce was engaged in farming, provided information on agricultural and home economics subjects and taught people how to use this information. Extension's interaction with rural America helped make possible the American agricultural revolution, which dramatically increased farm productivity.

The basic philosophy of the program was to "help people help themselves." A home demonstration agent worked with farm families, community leaders, and urban families to help them analyze family living situations, to recognize major problems, and to develop programs that aided them in making desired changes. One of the agent's major responsibilities was to convey the results of research in home economics to families in a form which they could understand and apply. Home demonstration agents conducted their work through group meetings, clinics, office and home visits, and by using exhibits, radio, television, and the press.

Extension Service work consisted of three general areas--agriculture, home economics, and 4-H. The homemaking phase of extension work brought families the latest research and information to help them achieve better living. Agents encouraged women to use the time, energy, money, and abilities of the family to achieve the goals the family considered important. Extension workers offered advice on how to prepare good, nutritious low cost meals; select and buy clothes for the family; make the home more convenient, attractive, and comfortable; and make housekeeping easier.