National FFA starts with Virginia group.

The National FFA Organization has wrapped up its 75th year, and is working on creating the next successful 75 years. Its roots are in the Future Farmers of Virginia (FFV), a group that started shortly before the national organization and set the example for others to follow. FFV was the collective work of four founding men in agriculture: Henry Groseclose, Walter Newman, Harry Sanders and Edmund Magill. Each of the men was integral to the founding of FFA through their commitment to agriculture education.

The organization officially formed in 1928 at the 3rd National Livestock Judging Contest in Kansas City. Thirty-three students from 18 states joined together to establish Future Farmers of America and elected Leslie Applegate of Freehold, N.J., president. Before that meeting, Henry Groseclose, Harry Sanders, Walter Newman and Edmund Magill were drawn together by their desire to see young men interested in agriculture and education fare well among their peers. From that meeting, the Future Farmers of Virginia was set in motion, which would later give birth to the national organization of Future Farmers of America (FFA).

In September 1925, Walter Newman, state supervisor of agricultural education, sat down at a table to discuss with Groseclose, Sanders and Magill the need for agriculturally minded boys to feel equal to their urban peers. A history of the FFA in Virginia, published in 1943, paraphrased the words of Newman like this, "In my opinion the farm boys of Virginia, who are enrolled in vocational agriculture, are equal to any other group of boys in the state. But somehow the boys themselves seem to have a feeling of inferiority. Especially is this true when the farm boy goes to the city and has to compete with his city cousin. This condition should not exist. I believe that a strong organization of our boys in agriculture would help them to overcome this handicap. Let's form an organization that will give them a greater opportunity for self-expression and for the development of leadership. In this way they will develop confidence in their own ability and pride in the fact that they are farm boys."

Over that table at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) now hangs a plaque reading, "At this table in September, 1925, it was determined that boys studying agriculture should have their own organization--now the FFA. Present: Walter S. Newman, Edmund C. Magill, H.W. Sanders and Henry C. Groseclose."

Groseclose is usually attributed as the founder of FFA, even though four men were largely responsible. It is recorded in a few FFA histories that he adamantly opposed all of this recognition that overlooked his three counterparts. Groseclose, an agriculture teacher trainer and former agricultural education instructor, had studied at Washington and Lee University and VPI. He had been raised on a mountain farm in southwestern Virginia, and realized the handicap young men from farms encountered when they studied at university, because he encountered this his freshman year at Washington and Lee. After the meeting with his three peers regarding this matter, Groseclose became ill and while hospitalized at Johns-Hopkins Hospital wrote the constitution and by-laws for the Future Farmers of Virginia, which were adopted in 1926. Groseclose had also thought of the name for the organization, a thought which he reported came to him while taking a bath: FFV had previously stood nationally for First Families of Virginia, Groseclose believed that since the greatest Virginian farmer had been Washington, the new group should adopt the same acronym. Groseclose's other main contribution to the agricultural organization was his work with R.W. Cline; together they drew the FFV emblem, which was adapted to make the FFA emblem. While Groseclose was involved with many of the written components of the organization's founding, Sanders, Magill and Newman are largely responsible for the success of FFA, as well.

Harry Sanders, a native of Dumbarton, Virginia, was reared on a dairy farm. He enrolled in the School of Agriculture at VPI and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Education in 1916. Before joining Groseclose, Magill and Newman in developing FFV, Sanders received recognition from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and from the US Office of Education for adapting the job-analysis technique to vocational agriculture. By 1925, he was part of the Agricultural Education faculty at VPI. Sanders spent much time developing agriculture education in Puerto Rico. The most obvious testimony to Sanders' commitment to young men pursing education in agriculture is the well-known reputation he and his wife, Julia, had for opening their home and providing direct financial aid for several boys who needed housing and help to meet the cost of education. His dedication to promoting success through education, especially to those interested in agriculture, is readily shown in his life's work.

Edmund Magill grew up in a different environment than his Virginian colleagues. Magill was from Kingman, Kansas, and had studied at Kansas State College and Cornell University before moving to Virginia and receiving his M.S. degree in agricultural education from VPI in 1924. At that time, he came became a professor at VPI and head of the department of agricultural education. His position set him up to be the perfect aid in forwarding Walter Newman's idea for the FFV.

Walter Newman grew up in Woodstock, Virginia, and was a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, and had advanced degrees from VPI and Pennsylvania State University. While working towards his first B.A., Newman lost his health and was diagnosed as overworked. He sat out a year and finished late. The experience helped him realize what Groseclose had also acknowledged: young men from the farm could experience certain handicaps when entering college and competing with peers who had spent more time in business preparation. Newman's boldness to express this idea and seek his peers to create a solution is how FFV, and ultimately FFA, began.

Other states patterned their organizations after FFV, and in 1928 when they banded together to form a national organization, they started one of the most recognized and respected agriculture education programs. After the tentative constitution was drawn up by Groseclose and sent to each state with a procedure explanation, it was decided that the first national convention of the Future Farmers of America should be held at the Baltimore Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. Eighteen states were represented by 33 official delegates: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. The constitution was adopted nationally and Leslie Applegate of New Jersey was voted the first president of FFA. Groseclose became the executive secretary-treasurer. The next year the first manual was printed and 33 states were now represented at the national convention by 64 members. Groseclose and Newman were given the first Honorary American Farmer degree awards that year. By the end of the second year, 41 states were affiliated with FFA and 40,064 students were considered members, and three additional states applied for charters.

Today, FFA continues to develop and now boasts 464,267 student members with chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Agriculture sees its future in the leaders and members of FFA and other organizations like it. FFA's commitment to agriculture students with a view to making them well-rounded citizens hasn't failed since its inception in 1928 and has progressed with the times. In 1930, the constitution was amended to allow female members at the state level; 1965 saw the integration of New Farmers of America, an African-American agriculture education organization; women gained the right to have national membership, leading to females in national leadership positions and competition in 1969; and in 1988 the name changed from "Future Farmers of America" to "National FFA Organization" to better reflect the progress and expansion of agriculture beyond farming careers.

As the 75th year winds down, I&T extends its best wishes to FFA staff and members in their constant pursuit to promote agriculture and develop successful men and women in the agriculture industry.