The Status of Agricultural Education Prior to the Smith-Hughes Act

摘要

Barbara Mandrell sings a song titled "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool." Back in 1917 many agricultural teachers could have sung a modified version of that song, "I Was An Agriculture Teacher Before Smith-Hughes." Many people believe the teaching of agriculture was started with the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. The fact is, the teaching of agriculture was well established before the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act. In the 1914-15 school year, a couple of years before the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act, agriculture was taught in 4,390 secondary schools to 85,573 secondary students (U.S. Commissioner of Education, 1916). This article describes the development of agricultural education before the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act.