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FFA & Leadership Sample LessonNFFA01 History of the FFA 
An important part of understanding the traditions and values of any organization comes from understanding its history. The National FFA organization is now the largest vocational youth group in the United States. Learning the history of how the National FFA grew in popularity and influence across the country will give you new pride for this important and effective force in agriculture. Agriculture education got its start in 1917 when Congress passed the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act. This act allowed students to take classes in production agriculture. These first students desired to be part of an organization with its roots in vocational agriculture. Henry C. Groseclose, known as the father of the FFA, established the FFV, or the Future Farmers of Virginia in the early 1920s for boys. The idea took hold almost immediately. In 1926, the American Royal in Kansas City, Missouri, invited students in vocational agriculture classes to take part in its livestock judging contests. Just two years later, in 1928, a national organization, called the Future Farmers of America, was formed, and the first National FFA Convention was held in Kansas City. The organization was only open to boys at that time. The convention hosted 33 delegates from 18 states. Dues for members at that time were 10 cents. A year later that number jumped to 64 delegates from 33 states and was highlighted with the naming of the first American Star Farmer, Carlton Patton. The national convention moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1999. In 1930, at the third National FFA Convention, E.M. Tiffany proposed his version of a creed for the Future Farmers of America. This proposal was adopted and is still being used today with only slight revisions made at the 38th and 63rd national conventions. By 1934, all but 2 states, Rhode Island and Alaska, were charter members of the FFA. In 1939, a National FFA Camp was founded on the land which currently houses the National FFA Center. (This property was also part of the estate of our first president of the United States, George Washington.) Discovering a need for funds to be raised to enlarge the focus of FFA activities, the FFA Foundation was formed in 1944. FFA delegates were first entertained by the FFA Band in 1947, followed by the FFA Chorus and the National Talent program in 1948. The year 1948 also saw the opening of the FFA Supply Service. Public Law 740, passed by Congress in 1950, granted the FFA a federal charter, which was later revised in 1979. The National Future Farmer Magazine made its entrance in 1952, as did the FFA Code of Ethics. The 25th anniversary of the FFA was recognized in 1953 by a special postage stamp and a visit from the then president of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower. Recognizing diversity as a strength of an organization, in 1955, the FFA went international. As a result, there are Future Farmer Organizations in Japan, Brazil, Columbia, Korea, Mexico, Panama, the Philippines and Thailand. School integration brought the New Farmers of America to the FFA. This former organization for African-American agriculture students, which operated in 13 southern states, brought more than 50,000 NFA members to the FFA in 1965. In 1969, girls were allowed to join the FFA. The American Star in Agribusiness award was added in 1969, and the first recipient was Ken Dunagan. In 1971 the FFA Alumni Organization was founded. Another significant change was made in 1988 when the organization changed its name from the Future Farmers of America to the National FFA Organization. Following suit, the National Future Farmer Magazine changed its name to FFA New Horizons. Two awards were added in 2001: the American Star in Agriscience award and the American Star in Agricultural Placement. The leadership of the FFA has played a significant role in the success of the National FFA. Serving as the first national president was Leslie Applegate, N.J., while the first national advisor was Dr. C. H. Lane. The current national advisor is Larry D. Case; C. Coleman Harris is the national executive secretary; and Marion Fletcher is the national treasurer. National officers are selected each year at the National FFA Convention. Each state is allowed to have one candidate represent them in the selection process. Competition is tough and the candidates are terrific representatives of agriculture's finest young talent each year. Four vice presidents represent the southern, eastern, western and central regions of the U.S., along with a national secretary and president who are selected from at large. The 2006-2007 National FFA Officers are National FFA President Beau Williamson, FFA Secretary Kacy Baugher, Southern Region Vice President Jennifer Himburg, Western Region Vice President Janette Barnard, Eastern Region Vice President Coty Black and Central Region Vice President Jamie Cecil. The officers will spend a year traveling in the United States and abroad. The FFA has come a long way from the 1928 national convention with 33 delegates. For 2006, there were 495,046 FFA members, aged 12-21 in 7,242 chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Adding agribusiness and leadership development concerns as well as the inclusion of all racial groups and women has also served to strengthen the FFA in its purpose to launch young people on their chosen agricultural careers. EXERCISES: 1. Find out when your state and your school gained a charter from the National FFA Organization. Who were the chapter and state leaders at that time? 2. Many U.S. presidents have spoken at national FFA conventions since Dwight Eisenhower; who were they? 3. Develop a timeline demonstrating the changes made in the FFA. 4. Describe what a typical FFA member would have been like at the 1950 National FFA Convention. Compare this to an FFA member of today. 5. Select one year in the history of the FFA and write why you think the events of the year were important to the development of the FFA of today. INTERNET RESOURCE:
** National FFA TEST: 1. Which group invited the first vocational agriculture students to Kansas City?
2. Who is known as the father of the FFA? 3. The FFA Creed was written and accepted at the 1st National FFA Convention. TRUE or FALSE? 4. In 1965, the __________ were allowed to join the FFA, and in 1969, __________ were allowed to join the FFA. The addition of these two groups increased membership dramatically. 5. In what year did the FFA change its name from the Future Farmers of America to the National FFA Organization?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- END STUDENT SECTION NFFA01 History of the FFA
TEACHER'S GUIDEOBJECTIVE: The student will gain an understanding of the history of the FFA and how that history has affected today's FFA. PREPARATION: Find out when your chapter and state gained charters to the National FFA Organization and have FFA manuals and handbooks available for student reference. INTERNET RESOURCE:
** National FFA IMPORTANT TERMS: Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act, Public Law 740, Future Farmers of Virginia, New Farmers of America, American Royal. EXTENSION: Attend the National FFA Convention, or follow the news of the convention from AgEdNet.com, and record what items are being voted on by the voting delegates. How would you vote? Do you agree with their opinions? Why or why not? EXERCISE ANSWERS: 1. This information can be obtained through chapter records or from your state FFA Association. 2. This information can be found in FFA Handbooks. They are Truman, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Bush. 3. The timeline would give students a visual aid to better understand the changes made throughout the history of the FFA. 4. In 1950, the typical FFA member would have been a white male involved in production agriculture. (In 1950 no African Americans or women were in the FFA, and the program was strictly production agriculture.) Today the FFA has a wide diversity of its members, with both male and females as members, a diversity of races and ethnic backgrounds, with interests in production agriculture, agribusiness and/or leadership development. 5. Students should be able to see a correlation between an event in FFA history and its impact on the development of today's FFA. Important developments might be in the areas of types of people attracted to the organization, the structure of the organization, etc. TEST KEY: 1. Which group invited the first vocational agriculture students to Kansas City? The American Royal invited vocational agriculture students to Kansas City in 1926 to participate in judging contests.
2. Who is known as the father of the FFA? Correct answer: D. None. The man known as the father of the FFA is Henry C. Groseclose. 3. The FFA Creed was written and accepted at the 1st National FFA Convention. TRUE or FALSE? FALSE. The FFA Creed was proposed and accepted at the Third National FFA Convention and was written by E. M. Tiffany. 4. In 1965, the New Farmers of America were allowed to join the FFA, and in 1969, women were allowed to join the FFA. The addition of these two groups increased membership dramatically. 5. In what year did the FFA change its name from the Future Farmers of America to the National FFA Organization? The organization name change came in 1988. CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS:
Across: 2. Tiffany, 7. Girls, 8. Charter, 9. Horizons, 10. Lane, 12. Kansas, 13. Ethics. END TEACHER'S GUIDE
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