SD Agricultural Education and FFA History

Events leading to and passage of the Smith-Hughes Act

June 19, 2017
By Clark W. Hanson
Professor Emeritus, Agricultural Education, SDSU

The desire to offer secondary education agriculture classes initially started in the early 1800s and continued until the turn of the century. Over the years numerous attempts were made utilizing a variety of approaches to offer agricultural subjects.

As the land-grant college curriculum expanded in depth of content, it became apparent that a gap existed in the degree of preparation obtained in the secondary school setting and the desired level of competence of entering college freshmen. The industrial revolution was a secondary force driving the establishment of high school programs. Trained workers were needed to ensure continued economic growth and development of the United States.

Over the years, several colleges of agriculture initiated technical high school-level offerings often labeled as schools of agriculture located at experiment stations. The state of Minnesota started such programs at St. Paul in 1888, Crookston in 1906, Morris in 1909, Grand Rapids in 1921 and Waseca in 1952. Some of these programs grew into two-year colleges and a few eventually offered four-year degrees.

Fewer than 100 public secondary schools were offering agriculture classes during the 1906-1907 school year. In 1917, at the time of the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act, 3,675 schools offered agriculture classes of some type. South Dakota was one state in which three schools provided high school agriculture classes in 1911 and that number grew to seventeen schools offering an agricultural curriculum in 1916. South Dakota State College was one those schools.

The college organized and begins offering a secondary curriculum in agriculture with an enrollment of 143 students in 1908, nine years before the passage of Smith–Hughes. The school started with a one-year curriculum in 1908, two years in 1909, three years in 1910 and four years in 1914. During the 1940–1941 school year the program had expanded to two sessions. The school terms were Oct. 21 until Dec. 20 and Jan. 6 to March 26.

With the growth in programs, securing qualified teachers was becoming a problem. In 1914, Garland Bricker (Ohio) proposed four potential solutions to the teacher shortage: securing nature-study teachers, graduates of agricultural colleges, high school science teachers and those raised on farms. Bricker ended up proposing the establishment of agricultural education departments which offered “training in the theory and practices of teaching agriculture.” In addition to normal schools and land-grant colleges preparing teachers, Bricker went on to suggest alternative approaches to train teachers including: home study, correspondence classes, and teacher’s institutes.

After various attempts to acquire funding for secondary agriculture programs, Senator Michael Hoke Smith, Georgia, and Representative Dudley M. Hughes, Georgia, introduced the necessary legislation. President Wilson signed the Smith-Hughes Vocational Education Act into law on February 23, 1917. The legislation included funding for agriculture, trade and industry, home economics and teacher training. The South Dakota Legislature accepted the terms of the Act in 1917. Each state was to establish a State Board for Vocational Education and “…to agree that (1) the federally aided program of vocational education would be under public supervision and control, (2) the controlling purpose would be to fit students for useful employment, (3) vocational education would be of less than college grade and designed to meet the needs of persons over 14 years of age who had entered or who were preparing to enter the occupation for which they were receiving training, and (4) the state or local community would provide the necessary plant (facilities) and equipment.”

The impact of the legislation was significant as the number of enrollees nationwide receiving instruction in agriculture increased from 15, 453 in 1918 to 85,984 in 1924. Provisions in the legislation included day classes for regularly attending students plus opportunities for part time students who had already graduated.

The State Board of Vocational Education selected South Dakota State College as the teacher training site for agriculture. Prof. E.D. Stivers was named director of agricultural education.

No schools applied for state-approved programs for the 1917-1918 school year. Ravinia Consolidated School was the first school approved on October 7, 1918. Later on the Board approved Viborg, Wessington Springs, Brookings, Huron and Watertown as of February 1, 1919; Clear Lake and Madison as of March 1, 1919; Belle Fourche as of April 1, 1919 and Woonsocket, Mt. Vernon and Salem starting September 1919.

So when did the Future Farmers of America (FFA) get started? Stay tuned for the next article.

References

• A History of Agricultural Education in the United States, 1785-1925,” Alfred Charles True, United States Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Publication No. 36, 1929.

• “Milestones in the Legislative History of U.S. Land-Grant Universities,” P. Appleby, Professor Emeritus of Crop Science Oregon State University, Oct. 2007. (Over the years most Land- Grant Colleges were eventually named Land-Grant Universities. State legislators changed South Dakota State College name to South Dakota State University, July 1964.)

• “History of Agricultural Education of Less Than College Grade in the United States,” Complied by Rufus W. Stimson and Frank W. Lathrop, Vocational Division Bulletin No. 217, Agricultural Series No. 55, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

• “Agricultural Teacher Education Preceding the Smith-Hughes Act,” John Hillison, Associate Professor, Agricultural Education, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, October, 1986.