Timeline Stories

The first National FFA Band performs at the National FFA Convention. National FFA Officers go on the first Goodwill Tour, visiting business and industrial firms and organizations.

The first FFA Chorus and National FFA Talent program is held at the National FFA Convention. National FFA Supply Service begins operation. Record jump in membership from 238,269 in 1947 to 260,300 in 1948. So many members (10,000) attend the 20th National FFA Convention that a folding-cot hotel is set up in the basement of the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. First FFA Week is celebrated during the week of George Washington’s birthday.

The first International Exchange Program for FFA members begins with Young Farmers Club of Great Britain.

The delegate body of the National FFA Convention establishes the alumni class of membership as part of the National FFA Constitution.

The 81st U.S. Congress passes a bill that grants a federal charter to Future Farmers of America. President Harry S. Truman signs the bill on Aug. 30, and it becomes Public Law 81-740. The Rhode Island FFA Association, with five chapters and 82 members, is chartered—FFA is in all 48 states, plus then Territory of Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

The advancement in agricultural education since the Smith – Hughes Act has bettered the quality of life not just for America’s rural and farm families but for everyone across the globe who is fed and clothed by the American Farmer. As with every great journey, it started with that first step. 2017 was the centennial celebration of the Smith – Hughes Act, America’s first step in transforming education.

The FFA Code of Ethics is adopted. First issue of The National Future Farmer magazine is published.

Virginia Tech agricultural education teacher educators Henry Groseclose, Harry Sanders, Walter S. Newman and Edmund C. Magill organized the Future Farmers of Virginia for boys in agriculture classes. The FFV served as the model for the Future Farmers of America.

The U.S. Post Office Department issues a special 3-cent postage stamp—the cost of mailing a first-class letter then—to celebrate the 25th anniversary of FFA. The first stamps are released in Kansas City, Mo., during the National FFA Convention. President Dwight D. Eisenhower speaks at the National FFA Convention — the first U.S. president to do so — and receives an Honorary American Farmer Degree. FFA membership reaches 363,369 members.

The First National Congress of Vocational Agriculture Students assembles for a National Livestock Judging Contest at the American Royal Livestock and Horse Show in Kansas City, Mo.

Former President Harry S. Truman spoke during the national convention.

H.O. Sargent, a federal agent for agricultural education for African Americans at the U.S. Office of Education, and G.W. Owens, a teacher-trainer at Virginia State College, write the first constitution and bylaws for the New Farmers of Virginia, an organization for African-American agriculture students. The organization holds its first state rally that same year.