PHOTO BY MEGHAN ERKKINEN

A new exhibit at the Fife History Museum documents the history of Fife High School’s FFA – formerly Future Farmers of Am erica – which is now in its 77th year.

New exhibit examines history of FFA

By Meghan Erkkinen

The latest exhibit at the Fife History Museum takes a look back at Fife High School’s FFA  – formerly called Future Farmers of America – since its inception at the school in 1931.

Even before FFA began at Fife High School, students participated in an agriculture club. Two years after the national organization was created in 1929, Fife began its own chapter of the organization.

Old yearbooks dating back to the 1930s have photos and information documenting the club’s activities in its earliest years. The club held an annual potato judging contest and various other community activities, such as dinners. Yearbooks document contests at Puyallup Fair exhibits and competitions around the Northwest.

However, the club was about more than just farming.

“As a rule, pleasure preceded business, for basketball was played before each meeting,” an early yearbook reads.

In its early years, FFA focused on farming and animal husbandry activities.

“We were an agricultural community. It was just natural (to have a farming club),” said Pat Reed, a historian for the Fife School District.

The exhibit documents how FFA has changed over the years, though yearbooks, photographs, timelines and memorabilia. Over the years, Fife’s FFA has had several long-term advisors who have inspired numerous Fife graduates to enter related careers, becoming veterinarians, agriculture teachers and farmers.

“All kinds of people went into the field (because of their advisors),” Reed said.

For almost 40 years the club was for boys only. It wasn’t until 1969 that women were allowed membership in FFA chapters around the nation. Today, about 35 percent of members are female.

It was in 1988 that FFA adopted its abbreviated name as its official name in order to encompass the more than 300 careers related to farming – such as science, business and technology of agriculture.

Over the years FFA has changed significantly. Once focused primarily on farming activities, now students also work on public speaking and other aspects of agriculture relating to the many related careers that have developed.

The FFA exhibit is on display at the Fife History Museum, which is located at 2820 54th Ave. E. For more information, contact the museum at (253) 896-4710.

Also on display is an exhibit documenting the history of the Fife Fire Department, and another exhibit examining the Japanese heritage in Fife.

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