Some history of FFA yesterday and today

Information for this article was taken from the National FFA Organization’s website at www.ffa.org.

Last week was National FFA Week, and the three Henry County FFA chapters were featured which gave readers an insight into just how much FFA has to offer members. This is a brief history of how FFA came into being and a few milestones it achieved since its beginning.

The first FFA chapter was formed in 1928 by 33 delegates from 18 states. It was established to provide leadership training for farm boys. Leslie Applegate was elected president and annual dues were set at 10 cents. In less than a year there were 2,000 chapters holding regular meetings.

At the 1933 National Convention in Kansas City the Frederickson chapter arrived wearing blue jackets with the FFA emblem on the back. Originally designed as a uniform for band members by J.H. Linter official delegates voted to adopt the jackets as the official dress for FFA members. There were rules for wearing jackets that were to be honored by FFA members. To properly wear the jacket the collar was to be turned down, the jacket was to be zipped up and the cuffs buttoned. No school letters were permitted to be placed on the jacket and no more than three medals could be displayed on it.

According to Kacie Hulshof, former assistant editor, over the years the Official Dress has undergone some changes. Early on Blazers were part of the Official Dress but eventually were eliminated. In 1988 a standard shade if blue was introduced. Prior to that the blue had a purple hue. The emblem was changed to read Agriculture Education from Vocational Agricultural. The color was also changed to a pure golden color. Before the change the emblem had an orange hue. When girls were admitted to the FFA they could wear a gold skirt or a dark colored skirt, but no pants. It wasn’t until 2016 that girls had the option to wear a skirt or pants.

FFA jackets have been around for 90 years and have been worn by millions. When members are wearing the Official Dress of the FFA they represent the millions that came before them and those who will follow.

Before the Civil Rights Act was passed in1964 only boys were allowed to participate in FFA, and the organizations were segregated by race. In 1935 the New Farmers of America (NFA), a separate organization, but with many of the same goals, was organized to serve Black vocational agricultural students in segregated public schools in Southern states In1965 after the Civil Rights Act had been passed the NFA and FFA merged into a unified organization to unify Black and White youth in Agriculture. The organization continued as FFA. The merger not only increased the membership of FFA but created a stronger organization.

National conventions were held throughout WW11, but attendance declined because some members went off to join the military. Those left at home supported the war effort by selling liberty bonds and collecting scrap metals.

In1941 the National FFA band debuted at the National Convention directed by Henry Brunner. The National FFA Organization had had theme songs for many of its conventions. “Just one”, “Go All Out”, “Grow” and “I Can, We Will” are the titles of some of the theme songs. You can listen to these songs on Spotify, Amazon Music Unlimited and Tou-Tube.

In 1944 the National FFA Foundation, Inc. was established to raise money for FFA programs and activities. The first exchange program was with a Young Farmers Club if Great Britian. This launched a major international program that continues to be an important aspect of FFA.

The first issue of “The National Future Farmer” was published in 1952 and in 1953 the U.S. postal service issued a commemorative stamp to honor the 25 th year of FFA.

The National headquarters for the FFA was established in 1959 at Alexandra, Virginia on land that was part of George Washington’s estate. During the dedication ceremony a handful of dirt from each state was placed around the flagp

In 1966 the FFA held its first National Agriculture Career Opportunities show at the convention. This exposed members to other career opportunities within agriculture and declared “Agriculture is more than farming.” Today there are more than 300 career opportunities in agriculture and/or related to agriculture. Women were granted full membership in 1969. The amendment passed by two votes. The FFA Alumni was formed to encourage former FFA members and others with agricultural interests and knowledge to support their local chapters. The leadership and support of adults has had a major role in the success of FFA.

Many dignitaries have spoken at the National FFA Conventions They included Jimmy Carter who was the only president who had been a former FFA member, president Gerald Ford, and Vice President Ronald Regan all spoke at an FFA convention.

Throughout the following years the FFA continued to grow. New programs were introduced to accommodate the interests of members and stay abreast of the progress of technology.

Today FFA is described as, “A student organization that helps develop their leadership skills and career goals through agricultural education. “Iowa has 270 chapters that involve more than 20,000 students. There are chapters in all 50 states, Porto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. FFA is the largest student led organization in the nation.

Iowa has around 270 chapters and the average membership is per chapter is about 65.

The 85th National FFA Convention in 2012 was held in Indianapolis, with a record attendance of 56,167 members, teachers, supporters, and guests.

Yelm High School in Washington State has the largest FFA membership in the U.S. with a total of 1,280 of its student population (1,515) active members of their FFA organization.

The FFA motto is: "Learning by Doing, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.

Statistics support the conclusion that FFA is a great resource to help youth achieve their goals. They are encouraged to wear their uniform with pride as a member of the largest and still growing youth organizations in the world.