Focusing on the History of Agricultural Education and Rural America
What would you guess the phrase “The Last Plantation” refers to? Would you be surprised to learn it was a reference to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) during the last half of the 1900s? The reason the USDA Continue reading The Last Plantation (2/11/2022)
Have you ever heard the phrase “Forty Acres and a Mule”? Where did it come from and what does it mean? Figure 1. A Black farmer plowing with a mule. The plight of Black farmers in America is shocking. In Continue reading Forty Acres and a Mule (2/4/2022)
The winter Olympics are just days away. People are getting excited about them. Some 80 years ago the farmers and their families in Iowa and Illinois were excited about a different type of Olympics known as the Farm Sports Festival. Continue reading The Farm Sports Festival (1/28/2022)
This is the heading from an article that appeared in a local newspaper a while back. Figure 1 Newspaper Article Heading In what decade would you guess this article appeared? [A. 1930s] [B. 1940s] [C. 1950s] [D. 1960s] [E. 1970s] Continue reading I Place This Class of Seed Potatoes 4-1-3-2 (1/21/2022)
Last week’s Friday Footnote focused on the FFA basketball teams and tournaments that were at the height of their popularity in the 1950s. In response, I received a note from Tim Davis, an agriculture teacher in Missouri who asked if I had Continue reading Put Up Your Dukes (1/14/2022)