During my tenure as a high school agriculture teacher I enjoyed looking at the back of the FFA jackets at the national FFA convention and wondering what it would be like to teach at those schools. What would it be like to teach in Sussex, New Jersey or Cimarron, New Mexico or Big Sandy, Montana or Caribou, Maine or etc. I thought it would be interesting to teach one year in each state to see what it was like. However, that was not a very realistic idea.
Starting with this Friday Footnote we are going to visit a state a week and get a glimpse of what it was like to teach agriculture or be an extension agent in the 1928 to 1939 era in that state. We are going to do this by looking at newspaper articles from that time period. Each week we will look at 2-5 newspaper articles to see what was being said about agricultural education, the extension service, the Future Farmers of America (FFA), and in some instances the New Farmers of America (NFA) in the featured state. We may learn something new or rediscover a past idea.
I maintain a Little Free Library on my property and sometimes see books written by Sue Grafton in the library. What is unique about her books is the title – they follow the alphabet (“A” is for Alibi, “B” is for Burglar, “C” is for Corpse, etc.). So I have borrowed that idea from Sue in naming this series of Footnotes.
From time to time we will interrupt the series of Footnotes for guest contributions or other pertinent Footnotes as appropriate. So let’s get started. We will proceed alphabetically.
A is for Alabama
Alabama applied to affiliate with the national FFA on December 2, 1929 and was granted a charter in 1929. Alabama was the 39th state to affiliate with the National FFA Organization.
Between 1928 and 1939 there were 3,032 mentions of the Future Farmers of America and 32 mentions of the New Farmers of America in Alabama newspapers.
Article 1 – On September 24, 1933, Clifford Manning, the state FFA reporter authored an article in The Birmingham News about the organization of the FFA. Clifford tells about the growth of the FFA and why it is an important organization. At the end of his article there is a note that another article was coming in the following week. See Figure 1 below.
A question to ponder – How many state (or even regional or local) reporters today actually send articles to newspapers or maintain a social media presence for the FFA. At one time FFA officers actually did the job they were elected to do. Are they doing that today?
Article 2 – The name H. O. Sargent should be known by every agriculture teacher in America. He was a prominent native of Alabama, so his death in an automobile accident in 1936 in Louisiana made the news in Alabama. An article in the Marion County News published on February 20, 1936 tells us about H. O. Sargent. See Figure 1 below.
Two questions to ponder –
- When you mention H. O. Sargent in your classes, is he just a name or would your teaching be more engaging if you could actually introduce your students to H. O. Sargent?
- Will your death merit an article in the newspaper other than the standard obituary?
Figure 1. Left article is from The Birmingham News, Sept. 24, 1933.
Right article is from the Marion County News, Feb. 20, 1936
Article 3 – The principal of Southern Choctaw High School sent an article to the Sumter County Journal in 1930 describing the courtesy and hospitality shown to the FFA chapter by a nearby 4-H Camp where the FFA members spent several days. The article included a resolution passed by the FFA chapter’s Resolution Committee recognizing the owners of the camp, the county agents, the home demonstration agent and the 4-H club boys for their assistance and cooperation. See Figure 2 below.
Two questions to ponder –
- Does your FFA chapter cooperate with the 4-H or other groups in your county? Should they?
- Does your chapter have a Resolutions Committee? Would it be a good idea? In Dale Carnegie’s classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People one of the principles in working with people is to give honest and sincere appreciation. We often do this at the annual FFA banquet but we should be doing it year round.
Article 4 – In February of 1937 the 4-H boys in Coffee County were busy with method demonstrations. The demonstrations were on culling hens, pruning, worming pigs, landscaping, terracing, and judging beef steers. See Figure 2.
- A question to ponder – When was the last time you or your students conducted a community based demonstration? What would be the benefits of such an activity?
Figure 2. Left article is from the Sumter County Journal, Aug. 28, 1930.
Right article is from The Elba Clipper, March 11, 1937
Article 5 – What would it be like to attend a state convention of the New Farmers of America? An article in The Tuskegee News (July 7, 1938) gives us an idea of what it would be like and mentions several prominent individuals. See Figure 3 below.
A question to ponder – Does your state FFA convention merit mention in the newspapers of the state? How could you make this happen?
Figure 3. From The Tuskegee News, July 7, 1938
Concluding Remarks
Even though this Footnote is titled A is for Alabama it could be titled A is for Attention. These articles call attention to the FFA, 4-H, and NFA. I have often heard people identify agricultural and extension education as the “Greatest thing since sliced bread” but not that many people know about us. We need to be more proactive in educating the public about our programs. What could be done this coming year to draw attention to your program?