At a recent social event, a group of us were playing Catch Phrase. The fast-paced party game requires players to get their teammates to guess the word or phrase displayed on the electronic handheld device by giving clues, without saying the actual words or rhyming. The object is to describe the clues as fast as possible and pass the unit to the opposing team so you don’t get caught holding it when the hidden timer buzzer goes off.
At the recent event one of the players drew the word “smorgasbord” but was not able to provide appropriate clues to her teammates before the buzzer went off. Most people know what a smorgasbord is, but in case you don’t, it is a traditional Scandinavian buffet-style meal featuring a wide variety of hot and cold dishes. More broadly, it is used in English as a metaphor for an extensive, diverse, or wide-ranging collection of things.
So, this Friday Footnote is a smorgasbord of things about agricultural education in New Jersey. In the spirit of Catch Phrase the bold words that follow are the words you would be trying to get your teammates to guess.
But first – an announcement. This is the last Friday Footnote until September 4. With summer ag teacher conferences and getting ready for school we need to balance that with some time for ourselves. So that is what the Friday Footnote is going to do.
The New Jersey Ag Ed smorgasbord
Tuskegee of the North. What school was known as the Tuskegee of the North? The Bordentown Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth was a renowned, state-funded residential high school in Bordentown, NJ. Operating from 1886 to 1955, it provided generations of African American students with a premier academic and vocational education, eventually closing due to post-desegregation policy shifts. Because it was patterned after the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama it was often called the “Tuskegee of the North”.
Figure 1. Students at the Bordentown Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth in 1935. Image from the Smithstonian.
The school was situated on 400 acres which were farmed, there were 30 buildings built by students and staff, an auto shop, a seamstress department, and other vocational programs such as agriculture as well as college preparatory programs.
1939.In what year was the national NFA convention held in New Jersey? The New Farmers of America (NFA) was a national vocational agriculture organization for African American youth from 1935 to 1965. Operating in segregated southern states, it developed agricultural, leadership, and public speaking skills. Most people are surprised to learn that the NFA existed in New Jersey. This is not exactly a southern state. The 1939 NFA convention was held in New Jersey at the Bordentown Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth.
Figure 2. Evening Courier, Camden, NJ. August 5, 1939
Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School. What is the oldest secondary agricultural high school in the United States? The Bordentown school was not the only school for minorities in New Jersey. The Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School was the first secondary agricultural high school in the United States, officially opened in 1894 in Woodbine, New Jersey. Funded by German-Jewish financier Baron Maurice de Hirsch, its mission was to teach scientific farming and trade skills to Eastern European Jewish immigrants, helping them achieve economic independence. For more information refer to the Friday Footnote “The Future Jewish Farmers of America???” published in 2000.
Figure 3. From The Jewish Farmer newspaper
Tattooing Chickens. What did the New Jersey agricultural education students do to prevent chicken thefts in the 1930s? According to the September 1935 issue of the American Vocational Journal poultry theft was a big issue in New Jersey in the 1930s. So the state police, NJ Extension Service, and agricultural education students joined together to tattoo poultry and register the tattoos with the state police. See the article from the Journal in Figure 4.
Figure 4. From the American Vocational Journal, September 1935
Figure 5. From the New Jersey State PoliceMuseum
38 Chapters. How many FFA chapters are in New Jersey? According to the national FFA there are 38 FFA chapters in New Jersey. The Middlesex-Piscataway FFA became the 38th chapter in 2025.
Miss Arlene Kern. What is the name of the New Brunswick female who enrolled in agricultural education and was a FFA member in 1958? Arlene’s family was in the nursery business and she plans to go into the nursery business. Her SAE program consists of 250 evergreen shrubs. In the photo below note she is wearing her FFA jacket.
Figure 6. Central New Jersey Home News, Brunswick, NJ. February 2, 1958
1913. When did the first public high schools start teaching agriculture in New Jersey?. In 1913 two high schools in New Jersey started teaching agriculture. Freehold High School, (the home of Leslie Applegate, the first national FFA president) took teaching agriculture seriously. Stimson and Lathrop (1942, p. 299) write:
The Freehold Board of Education is imbued with the idea that agriculture should be taught in the school in a most thorough and scientific manner. There are enrolled in the Freehold; school 235 boys and girls….More than half of these come from fertile farms. The course not only includes agriculture but also horticulture. The high school building is situated in the center of a botanical garden. A special teacher from Rutgers Agricultural College is engaged to do the work… Physiology, biology, physics, and chemistry are presented in terms of the garden and the field.
Figure 7. The agricultural laboratory and greenhouse at Freehold High School in 1913. From The Daily Register of Red Bank, NJ, April 16, 1913.
Leonardo High School in Monmouth County also started teaching agriculture in 1913.
Dressing Turkeys. What did the agricultural students at New Brunswick High School do for Thanksgiving in 1949? Why, of course, they dressed the turkeys they had raised to sell at Thanksgiving. This was an educational undertaking and a fund raising activity.
Figure 8. Image from the October 1949 American Vocational Journal. This issue had a feature about New Jersey’s Vocational Education Program.
Concluding Remarks
This Footnote is just a sampling of interesting facts about agricultural education programs in New Jersey. Similar stories could be found about agricultural education programs in New Jersey and across America. As we approach the 100th anniversary of the FFA in 2028 we should be making a conscientious effort to find other stories like these and record them.
This is the last Friday Footnote until September 4. With summer ag teacher conferences and getting ready for school we need to balance that with some time for ourselves. So that is what the Friday Footnote is going to do.
Reference
Stimson, R. & Lathrop, F. (1942). History of Agricultural Education of Less Than College Grade in the United States. Vocational Division Bulletin No. 217. Federal Security Agency. U. S. Government Printing Office.