Ffa History

Many people think that FFA is just about farming, agriculture, and agricultural education, but there is so much more to FFA than just agriculture! Not only does the organization provide an understanding of agriculture, but it also provides countless leadership opportunities as well. Not to mention the endless array of scholarships and over three hundred possible careers associated with agriculture. Whether someone is learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live , or living to serve, his or her life will be forever altered when they join FFA. The unforgettable memories, and the significant experiences will stay with them for the rest of their life.

This may be hard to believe, but many people have never heard of FFA. Some people
don’t even know what the letters stand for! FFA is an abbreviation for Future Farmers of America. In 1888, members of the organization decided to change the name from FFA to the National FFA Organization, however most people still refer to it as FFA. The main three purposes of FFA are to bring together teenagers from all across the nation and help them develop leadership skills, personal growth, and prepare them for potential careers in agriculture. There are more than 557,318 members in FFA today, making it one of the top organizations in the country. However, it wasn’t always this way. No one would have ever been able to guess how many lives FFA would touch.

The history of FFA is quite a long one, and starts back in the 1920’s.
The 1920’s and 1930’s were critical times in FFA’s history. These twenty years were all about firsts for the organization. According to the Official FFA Student Handbook, in 1917, the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Educational Act established vocational agricultural courses. Then, in 1925, Virginia Tech agricultural education teacher educators, Henry Groseclose, Harry Sanders, Walter S. Newman and Edmund C. Magil organized the Future Farmers of Virginia by boys in agriculture classes. The FFV serves as the model for FFA. One year after the FFV was established, the First National Congress of Vocational Agriculture students came together for the first National Livestock Judging Contest at the American Royal Livestock and Horse Show in Kansas City, Missouri. The next year should sound very familiar, because in 1928, FFA was established in Kansas City Missouri. Also in 1928, the first National FFA President, Leslie Applegate was elected at the first National FFA Convention held in Kansas City, Missouri. There were 33 delegates from 18 states that attended, which is nothing compared to the 50,000+ people who attend now. Finally, in 1929, national blue and corn gold were adopted as the official
colors.

A great deal of important events occurred in the 1930’s.
The Official Creed was adopted at the beginning of the 1930’s. In addition to that, the first official dress uniform was adopted in 1930: a dark blue shirt, blue or white pants, and a blue cap and yellow tie. Delegates restricted the membership to boys only. Not only was this sexist, but it would also become a huge issue in time. In 1932, the group granted Puerto Ricans membership into FFA. Three years after the first official dress was adopted, they revised the outfit. In 1933, the blue corduroy jacked was added to the official dress. Many people think that the jacket is tacky and ugly, but after a while it really begins to grow on you. In 1935, only seven years after the organization was founded, the amount of active FFA members exceeded 100,000 people. A national FFA camp and leadership training school in Washington, D.C. was established during the national convention in
1937.

In the 1940’s, FFA mainly revolved around helping with the war. Whether it was actually going out and joining in the war effort, or revising membership rules so that time in the Armed Forces would not count in determining a member’s period of eligibility. In 1952 the FFA Code of Ethics was adopted. Furthermore, the first National FFA Center in Alexandria, Virginia was dedicated on a part of George Washington’s estate. This was where the first National Leadership Training Conference was held in 1969. An extremely important event occurred in 1969, which was when the FFA opened membership to girls. This was a huge thing in that time period, because women were being accepted as citizens in the U.S.

When most people think of the seventies, they think disco balls, bell bottom jeans, and go-go boots; everyone except FFA members that is. In 1971, the National FFA Alumni was founded. Two years later the FFA Official Dress Standards were created. Then in 1976, Julie Smiley was the first female to be elected to a national office. Also in 1976, the first FFA Student Handbook was published and Alaska became the lat of the 50 states to obtain a national charter.

It wasn’t until 1980, that the National FFA Foundation raised a million dollars in one year. In 1982, Jan Eberly became the first national FFA president. In 1984, the first FFA TV public service announcement aired, trying to engage young peoples interest in FFA. The first national television satellite broadcast of the national FFA convention appeared on TV in 1987. You can still watch the national convention live on the internet today! Future Farmers of America changes its name to the National FFA Organization in 1988.