Government Records
The FFA in Minnesota was organized May 16-17, 1930, as the Future Farmers of America, Minnesota Association. The first chapters were chartered on July 25, 1930. By 1934, there were enough chapters to divide the state into districts, and by 1958, there were eight regions and sixteen districts. In 1959, the association incorporated as a nonprofit corporation; in 1970, it amended its constitution to allow girls to join; and in 1988, it became the Minnesota FFA Association, following the national organization in simplifying the name from Future Farmers of America.
The FFA was housed under the auspices of the State Department of Education until 1996, when it moved into the Minnesota Foundation for Student Organizations in the newly created Department of Children, Families and Learning [Minn. Stat. 124D34].
The majority of these records were kept by "Mr. FFA," Waino John Kortesmaki. Kortesmaki was a member of the Esko Chapter, the first FFA chapter organized in Minnesota in October 1929, and served as its president in 1931. He was also a secretary of the state association (1930-1931) and a member of its Executive Committee (1932-1934), advisor of the Embarrass FFA Chapter (1935-1938), teacher of adult evening agriculture classes for St. Louis County (1938-1944), agricultural assistant for the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Commission (1944-1946), assistant State Supervisor of Agricultural Education in the State Education Department (1946-1947), and FFA State Executive Secretary (1947 - August 31, 1977). He was awarded the FFA's Honorary State Farmer Degree (1941), Honorary American Farmer Degree (1970), FFA V.I.P. award, the highest national award given to adults (1982), and the Distinguished Service Award (1982). Kortesmaki died March 15, 2000.
In 1982, Kortesmaki produced the book Minnesota FFA From the Beginning, a photographic chronology of FFA in the state. The Minnesota FFA Foundation provided funding for publication. These files are loosely organized around the chapters and appendices of that book and include correspondence, photographs, financial and legal documents, annual reports, minutes, newspaper and magazine clippings, news releases, chronologies, awards summaries, state and national convention proceedings and handbooks, statistics, reports, maps, certificates, and scrapbooks.
Major topics covered in the records include contests and events, particularly local, state, national, and international activities such as agricultural proficiency contests, community service programs, and international exchange programs; FFA camp and leadership training; Living to Serve projects resulting in charitable contributions of cash, gifts, farm machinery, and agricultural commodities; beautification, conservation, forestry, and wildlife and game bird activities; a statewide rainfall and snowfall data collection program; girls' participation; farm safety projects; the FFA's longtime affiliation with the Minnesota State Fair; and the history and activities of the state's local chapters and districts.
Also included in these records are files of A. M. Field, the first FFA state advisor; records of the Minnesota FFA Alumni Association; and incomplete sets of Minnesota Agricultural Departments Directories 1925-1993) and state association annual programs of work (1938-1973) and newsletters (1928-1999). Some materials, particularly the photographs and news clippings, may be duplicated in two or more sections. Many photographs are undated and/or unidentified in the records but may be both dated and/or identified in Kortesmaki's book, other FFA publications, or in newspaper and magazine articles.
These records are organized into the following sections:
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the
Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics,
persons or places should
Accession numbers: 982-157; 983-160; 984-103; 2001-75; 2010-28
Annual reports, financial records, constitution and bylaws, minutes, and official scrapbooks documenting the administration and operation of the state FFA association.
Incomplete; includes a handwritten treasurer's book for 1940-1944.
Includes proposed revisions.
Incomplete; minutes, agendas, and background materials mainly from midwinter officers meetings, district spring and fall meetings, and summer leadership sessions, including some handwritten originals.
Incomplete; agendas, minutes, and background materials from each group's individual meetings and their joint meetings. Some minutes from these groups may also be found in the miscellaneous minutes listed above; researchers should check both sets of files.
Official state association scrapbooks: 1934-1967 were maintained by the office staff; 1986-1990 by the student president and reporter. They contain clippings, programs, correspondence, photographs, and other keepsake items.
Arranged alphabetically; the majority were kept by Kortesmaki during his tenure as executive secretary. Included are correspondence, clippings, handbooks, photographs, annual reports, news releases, newsletters, a history (1955), and related materials.
Guide and procedures.
Miscellaneous correspondence separated by Kortesmaki during preparation for his book. Covers almost every aspect of FFA activity.
Published jointly by the University of Minnesota and State Department of Education; used by the FFA in leadership and personal development.
Documents various chapters' activities at elementary schools, including "Cow at the Elementary School," June Dairy Month milking demonstrations, career development programs, Arbor Day tree planting, and pheasant teaching kit. Includes thank-you letters from elementary students, photographs, and clippings.
Energy design competition open to the FFA, Future Homemakers of America, Academy of Science and 4-H, sponsored by Minnesota Energy Agency.
Highlights of Minnesota Association FFA, 1909-1989.
Mainly coverage of FFA's role at the Bicentennial Farm Fest USA.
Gubernatorial proclamations, correspondence, press releases, photographs, and clippings documenting activities throughout the state during this annual event. Includes proclamation signing photographs of every governor from Youngdahl through Perpich.
Files kept by A. M. Field, first FFA state advisor (1930-1931) and longtime instructor and head of the University of Minnesota's Agricultural Education Department (1918-1948).
Letters, clippings, programs, and related items detailing Field's work at the University and with FFA, his death in 1960, and the A. M. Field Scholarship Fund.
Mainly portraits of Field.
Lectures, articles, and radio scripts; several relating to the history of FFA in Minnesota.
Includes The Future Farmers of America by Carlton Nelson.
Documents girls' roles in FFA, as Chapter Sweethearts and as local and national members (some local chapters allowed girls to join before they were officially allowed to join the national organization in 1969).
Knuti organized the first chapter in the state at Esko (Thomson Township) on October 29, 1929 and served as State Supervisor of Agricultural Education and State FFA Advisor from 1937-1943 and 1946-September 1947.
Mainly dealing with proposed name changes.
Correspondence and text of articles about the FFA.
Incomplete; listed by school year, within each alphabetically by school or technical institute.
Officially chartered in 1972, the alumni association supports both the state association and individual chapters, particularly through scholarships and promotion of agricultural education.
Includes an undated Minnesota Association of Gold Key Farmers constitution. Gold Key Farmers are those who attain the American FFA Degree, the highest degree of membership.
Scattered issues of the News Spreader (1981-1982) and Tracks (1992-1996).
Photographs of the charter, the presentation of the charter, and Governor Wendell Anderson receiving a lifetime member award.
State President (1955-1956).
Clippings; most related to agribusiness activities.
A Quaker Oats Company program.
Very incomplete set of articles about individual officers.
Most are identified and/or dated.
Orders, thank-you letters, and sample of the national calendar.
Photographs collected by Kortesmaki for Minnesota FFA From the Beginning. Some were used in the book, some were not; some are identified, some are not. They have been left in exactly the order imposed by Kortesmaki.
Annual programs for 1938-1939, 1940-1941, 1949-1950, 1954-1955, 1958, 1967, 1971, and 1973.
Scattered issues.
Scattered issues.
Very scattered issues.
Possibly complete; written by Paul M. Day, State Supervisor, Agricultural Education.
Incomplete; periodic compilation of news and notices written by Kortesmaki.
Written by John J. Murray, Agriculture Specialist, State Board of Vocational-Technical Education.
Written by Jim Ertl, Executive Secretary, Minnesota FFA.
Listings of the state regions and districts and chapters included in each.
Official distributor of FFA badges and ribbons.
Includes correspondence and reports.
Annual brief sheets containing biographical data on each recipient (1940-1966) and photographs (1950s-1970s). The researcher should also check the State Convention files which also include lists and biographical data on state star farmers.
Depicting various farm activities, including livestock, crops, record keeping, and equipment maintenance.
Copy of Agnes Harrigan Mueller's 1955 history, That Inspiring Past, History of the Future Farmers of America in Minnesota 1930-1955, and materials documenting its marketing.
National FFA Leadership Citizenship Conference.
Records include meeting minutes, news releases, newsletters, correspondence, membership, budget, and some records from the National FFA Alumni Association.
Includes overview of student, chapter and community development activities.
Arranged alphabetically by school.
Correspondence, clippings, awards summaries, convention proceedings booklets, photographs, banquet and luncheon programs, press releases, invitations, schedules, and related materials documenting the annual convention (1930-present). Beginning in 1980, many years include a handbook which laid out alphabetically the convention's activities, including awards and contests, assemblies, band and chorus, budgetary information, committee and convention meetings, state and honorary degrees, officers, and sponsors. The Vocational Agricultural Short Course at the University of Minnesota was held in conjunction with the convention.
Entirely news clippings; the majority undated and non-attributed.
Missing 1971.
Correspondence, clippings, awards summaries, convention proceedings booklets, photographs, banquet and luncheon programs, press releases, invitations, schedules, and related materials documenting the annual convention (1940-1941, 1946-1998). Beginning in 1980, many of the years include a convention handbook which laid out alphabetically the various activities involved in the convention, including national and honorary FFA degrees; proficiency and contest awards; national chapter, BOAC, and safety awards; band and chorus; courtesy corps; officer candidates; American Royal Queen candidates (American Royal Ambassadors after 1989); and alumni association.
Correspondence, assorted histories, and chronologies of Minnesota participants in national judging contests (1925-1980), chorus (1948-1979), band (1947-1980), convention delegates (1930-1980), and talent shows (1930-1980), and Minnesota's exhibits at the national conventions (1937-1980).
Two photographs of Lisa Schaffer, American Royal Queen. Schaffer was from Hastings, Minnesota.
Correspondence, press releases, lists, statistics, clippings, certificates, contest handbooks, and programs are found throughout these files and document the many local, state, national, and international activities of the FFA members, including the many agricultural proficiency contests; band/chorus participation; the Building Our American Communities program; book drives; annual state officers' Goodwill Tour; international programs, including Chapter to Chapter with the Future Farmers of Korea, People to People tours, and Work Experience Abroad; marketing schools; Pork Week activities; reconditioned farm machinery distribution to underdeveloped countries; snowmobile training; and tractor driving. Many contain copies of lists and chronologies prepared for the appendices of Kortesmaki's book Minnesota FFA From the Beginning. Most of the files contain photographs, some substantial amounts; the majority are not dated or identified.
Mainly "Self Evaluation of FFA Leadership Sessions" forms, used by the chapters to note what contests/activities/awards they had participated in that year.
Lists of regional (1973-1980) and state (1967-1982) Star Agribusiness recipients.
Includes lists of Agricultural Mechanic Merit Award winners (1958-1979), booths (1950-1979), and demonstrations (1950-1979).
Includes materials documenting a film entitled Boys on the Land (1955), Minnesota FFA's Silver Anniversary radio broadcast on WCCO (1955), and WCCO-TV's Salute to Future Farmers (1965).
Award given in memory of Douglas K. Baldwin, General Manager of the Minnesota State Fair (1951 to 1963).
Documents the FFA state band, begun in 1937, and state chorus, in 1949; the use of questionnaires to pick the members; the band's appearance at the 1940 national convention; and nominations to the national band and chorus.
Raised for FFA Week.
Youth Conservation Achievement Trophy named for Frank Blair, former Minnesota Director of Game and Fish.
Program initiated during the 1970-1971 school year to increase FFA members involvement in the local community.
Mainly detailing 1965's Books for Asian Students, a UNESCO book drive in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, to supply agricultural and science books to the Philippines. Also materials on the PTA's children's books for Appalachia drive and books to Korea (1969) and Kenya (1970).
Includes photographs of the state association's booths at the national convention.
FFA raised money for a swimming pool at this camp for the mentally retarded.
Includes corrections for 1985-1987.
Travel Awards for Outstanding Leadership in Cooperative Activities, sponsored by the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives (1951-1980) and Cooperative Achievement and Special Awards (1948-1963).
Honors beef project.
Also called the Farmer Manager Award.
Documents FFA's relations with such organizations as the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, Farmers Union, the Grange, and NFO [National Farmers Organization].
Minutes (copy) of the first official state convention, May 16-17, 1930.
Built by the Forest Lake Chapter for the Statehood Centennial Parade on May 10, 1958; used later in local Centennial parades and in subsequent years in the Minneapolis Aquatennial parade.
Annual weeklong tour by the state association's student officers to promote FFA to local civic, school, and rural leaders.
Sponsored by F. H. Peavey & Company.
Lists of Honorary American Farmers from Minnesota (1929-1974), Minnesota State FFA Honorary Degree Recipients (1930-1979), and VIP Citation-National (1970-1982).
Dairy and swine judging at Hubbard Research farms.
Documents the Goodwill People to People mission, Work Exchange Abroad [WEA], and Korean Chapter to Chapter Program.
[See separate folders labeled Korea [FFK], People to People Tour, and WEA Program for more on these programs.]
Documents the Chapter to Chapter Program with the Future Farmers of Korea. Run through the Dunwoody Industrial Institute's International Services Division's Korea-IDA Educational Project Office in Seoul, this program matched individual chapters in each country.
Given by the University of Minnesota Chapter of the Farmhouse Fraternity.
Grants for game birds, wildlife habitats, and rain/snow gauges.
The Minnesota Association of Commerce and Industry sponsored scholarships for FFA members to attend the Long Lake Conservation Center camps in Aitkin County.
Mainly Christmas drives to support the association.
Attendance at the South St. Paul Livestock Marketing School/Institute.
State and national statistics.
Crop Judging Award; winners spent three days in Minneapolis touring the Exchange facilities.
Mainly documenting the Princess Kay of the Milky Way and FFA state president annual milking contest (1956-1978) and June is Dairy Month slogan contests.
Crop canning competition.
Annual goodwill travel program run through Maupin Tour, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. About 350 Minnesota FFA members participated in these 21 day agricultural tours to Europe between 1962 and 1977. Includes some letters from participants while on the tours.
Sponsored annually by the Minnesota Pork Producers Association.
Annual Poultry Jr. Fact Finding Conferences.
Includes sample press releases, clip sheets, and questionnaires.
FFAers reconditioned farm machinery, windmills, cream separators, corn shellers, and sewing machines which were then distributed in underdeveloped countries by Self Help, Inc., Waverly, Iowa.
America's Wool Commemorative Postage Stamp.
Driver training and use as safety recovery vehicles programs.
Listed alphabetically by chapter, thereunder chronologically.
State Fair Safe Tractor Driving competition.
Received for high achievements in BOAC, Safety and National Chapter contest areas.
Program established in 1969 by the national FFA to provide a cultural, educational and practical agricultural training program for youth in other countries.
The first annual FFA Officer's Leadership Training Camp was held at St. Croix State Park near Hinckley in 1949. In 1950, the Department of Education and the FFA leased Arrowhead Lake campgrounds and buildings from the Conservation Department. Located in the Superior National Forest Reserve near Britt, the camp was used by the FFA (and other educational groups) for summer leadership sessions through 1975. The camp was formally dedicated on August 2, 1952 as the State FFA Camp, in 1961, the name was changed to the FFA-FHA Leadership Training Camp Association, and in 1963, it was officially incorporated as the State Vocational Camp, Inc. The camp was closed after the 1975 session. Later FFA camps were held in various locations including Green Lake Bible Campground near Spicer, Camp Iduhapi at Loretto, United Methodist Camp at Frontenac, and Kare Phree Pines Camp at McGregor.
The files include correspondence, schedules, notices, financial reports, press releases, photographs, improvement plans, clippings and articles, scattered directors minutes, and legal papers. They cover such topics as supplies, building maintenance and construction, funding, equipment, personnel, fees, rentals to other groups, insurance, and involvement in the school food program.
Kortesmaki's District and State FFA Camps, 1930-1980, and other histories and chronologies compiled and collected for his book.
The annotations highlight topics or items of particular importance. Some materials may be duplicated in the subject files.
The Organization and Program for a State FFA Summer Camp, Edwin Lentz and Logan Grant, Agricultural Education 54, University of Minnesota, April 22, 1949.
July 31, 1950 lease and 1950 camp schedule.
Minnesota FFA Camp News.
Materials detailing the purchase of the nearby Hammer cabin and the August 2 camp dedication ceremony.
Items documenting the Sears Roebuck Foundation donation toward construction of a headquarters building.
Leadership Training booklet and a listing of funds derived from the State FFA Association (August 11, 1950 - April 27, 1953).
Minnesota FFA-FHA camp newsletter.
Article about the camp in the Sunday Pictorial Magazine, St. Paul Pioneer Press (July 21).
Proposed camp constitution and bylaws (November 6).
Constitution and bylaws and lease (July 31, 1960 - August 1, 1970).
State Vocational Education FFA-FHA Camp brochure Fun With A Future and August 3, 1961 Appreciation Day program.
Vocational Education Camp, Inc. articles of incorporation (January 23, 1963).
Includes dedication of the log cabin classroom building (June 29, 1969).
Mainly detailing the Arrowhead camp's closing, including consultant Roger E. Palmer's report (September 15, 1975).
Minutes; incomplete.
Reports submitted by the camp director for 1951-1952, 1954-1961, 1963-1967, 1970, 1972-1974.
Minutes; possibly incomplete. May be duplicated in the chronological files.
Lists of improvements to the buildings and grounds, both recommended and completed. In 1959-1962, there was a camp improvement fund drive to develop a permanent building fund. Records of donations from individual chapters are included.
Non-FFA or FHA meetings and conferences held at the camp. They included the Trade and Industrial Supervisors Workshops, Vocational Coordinators Conference, Vocational Agriculture Teachers, and Minnesota Counselors' Association.
Concerns improvements to the site including electric power lines, roads, tree cutting, lake surveys, and flush toilets.
Mainly inventory lists.
Includes a FFA camp fund disbursement/deposit register (June 1954 - January 1957), policies for handling camp finances, budgets, and auditors reports (1954/1955, 1956/1957, 1959/1960).
Purchase of a cabin on the opposite shore of the lake.
Documents $15,000 given to the FFA on May 16, 1951 to be used over a three year period to rehabilitate the property, install electricity, and provide adequate sewage disposal.
Inventory of buildings and state property (August 4, 1950), copy of lease (July 31, 1950), and details of changes in the lease (1960).
Mainly correspondence between the Education Department and the camp directors concerning hiring of ancillary staff, particularly cooks and counselors; advertising; activities and problems; and bills. Incomplete set of directors' agreements.
Correspondence between Lyons, general maintenance, and Harry Schmid and Helen Hagen, Education Department. Very detailed letters about all aspects of construction and general maintenance at the camp. Lyons was the Principal of the Eveleth Manual Training School during the school year.
Black and white photographs of the buildings, activities, campers, and various events, including the 1952 dedication. Most are unidentified; many are undated.
Concerns an access road to the lake constructed in 1952. Includes maps.
Details money given each year in 1952, 1953, and 1954 for the headquarters building construction.
Two surveys: State FFA Camp Leadership Program Suggestion Questions (June 12, 1974) and one sent to Vo-Ag Instructors on October 27, 1975 as part of consultant Roger E. Palmer's study into closing the camp.
Living to Serve projects result in contributions to charitable causes through cash, gifts, farm machinery, and/or agricultural commodities. The major statewide project was Corn for Crippled Children, begun in 1954. Each chapter would collect corn (or other grains) from area farmers, sell it, and turn the profit over to Camp Courage. Some chapters also raised corn for the drives. Other activities undertaken in the Living to Serve category included collection and repair of toys for needy children; polio drive fundraising; March of Dimes drives; Christian Rural Overseas Programs [CROP] projects supplying garden, carpenter, and hand tools to marginal farmers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America; textbooks to the Philippines; reconditioning farm machinery to be sent to underdeveloped countries through Self Help, Inc.; slow-moving vehicle emblems distribution; U. S. Savings Bonds; and Food for America.
Living to Serve statewide activities from 1930 through 1980.
Letters, memos and related materials documenting a wide variety of the Living to Serve activities. Some materials may be duplicated in the subject files.
Clippings, organized in loose chronological order, documenting Living to Serve projects, particularly the corn drives for Camp Courage. Some may be duplicated in the chronological and/or subject files.
The clippings actually date from 1962-1965.
Mainly 1968.
The clippings actually date from 1964-1971.
Includes Camp Courage.
Donation to sauna fund.
Issues of the Easter Seal News, 1955-1961; Crippled Children's News, 1962-1972; and Courage News, 1972-1981; containing information about FFA activities.
Alphabetical by chapter name; detail activities during the 1973-1974 year.
Numerical by region and district; detail activities during the 1975-1976 year.
Chaska Chapter's annual Farm-Animals-on-the-Lawn Day for the senior residents of the Ebenezer Society in Minneapolis.
Given through CROP.
Project to send disadvantaged children to summer camp.
Includes Forest Lake Chapter book drive (undated), and groundbreaking (1964) and dedication (1966) of the Camp Courage speech therapy building, the latter with Vice President Hubert and Muriel Humphrey.
Includes information on a wide variety of activities, including candy sales, concession funds, popcorn sales, dances, Weeds for Courage anti-smoking drive, sweet corn feed, pancake supper, and beef raffle.
Sponsored by the American Freedom from Hunger Foundation.
Projects involved in this section deal with beautification, conservation, forestry and wildlife. They include mallard, pheasant, turkey, partridge, and geese hatch, raise, and release programs; tree planting for community beautification, windbreaks, habitat, reforestation, school forests, and Arbor Day activities; wildlife habitat improvement and wood duck nesting box placement; litter and pollution prevention activities, including educational information at the State Fair's Children's Barnyard; trout planting; deer studies; water testing for home owners; and work on fire trails. Also documented are the FFA's work with the departments of natural resources and agriculture, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Keep Minnesota Clean and Scenic, Inc., Keep America Beautiful, Inc., the Minnesota and National Wildlife Federations, and Pheasants Unlimited and a Minnesota Resources Commission grant of $60,000 for upland game bird improvement during 1973/1974-1975/1977.
Statewide activities from 1936 through 1980.
Letters, memos, and some related materials documenting Natural Resources activities and projects. Some materials may be duplicated in the other sections.
Mainly black and white, the photographs document the many natural resources projects, including wood duck house building, award presentations, the arrival of mallard ducklings at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, tree planting, duck banding, wildlife habitat, duck releases, and duck telemetry. Governors Karl Rolvaag, Orville Freeman, and Wendell Anderson all appear in the photographs. The majority are undated and unidentified. Some may have been reproduced in publications and newspapers.
Includes handwritten annotations.
The mallard raise and release project began in 1963 in northeastern Minnesota and went statewide in 1965. The project's goals were to attempt to increase wild fowl and game bird populations, provide career opportunities for members interested in wildlife conservation, assist in introducing the study of conservation in the vocational agriculture high school curriculum, improve relationships between farmers and city hunters, and make members and parents conservation-minded. The program also included habitat improvement and a radio-telemetry project to study survival of the ducklings in the wild.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
The pheasant raise and release project began in 1964 in northeastern Minnesota and went statewide in 1965. The project's goals were to attempt to increase wild fowl and game bird populations, provide career opportunities for members interested in wildlife conservation, assist in introducing the study of conservation in the vocational agriculture high school curriculum, improve relationships between farmers and city hunters, and make members and parents conservation-minded.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter.
Alphabetical by chapter within each year.
Organized in loose chronological order within the volumes. Some of these clippings are also duplicated in the general files and the mallard, pheasant, and turkey files.
Contents cover 1963 and 1964.
Operation Rain Gauge was begun on December 27, 1970, with the statewide kick-off on April 1, 1971. It was the first attempt in the nation at statewide coverage of rainfall data, with 1100 FFA participants in 520 townships joining 240 official weather service observers in collecting rainfall amounts. An advisory committee composed of Donald Baker, University of Minnesota Soils Department professor, Earl Kuehnast, State Climatologist in the Department of Natural Resources, and Joseph Strub (1971-1976) and John Graff (1976-), National Weather Service meteorologists worked with the FFA. The data collected by the FFA was used to help identify effects of cloud seeding, provided information to several agribusinesses and organizations, and was used in requesting federal disaster aid. By 1972, it was known as Operation Rain/Snow Gauge. In 1972, the Upper Great Lakes Commission and Northwest Economic Development Agency provided money to develop rain/snow gauges for distribution by the FFA chapters.
Operation Rain/Snow Gauge statewide activities from 1970 through 1978.
Letters, memos, statistics, reports, maps, press releases, award certificates, and related materials documenting the program.
Mainly black and white photographs of Strub Award recipients (named in honor of Joe Strub, longtime Meteorologist in Charge of the Twin Cities National Weather Service Forecast Office), the rain/snow gauges used in the project, and State Fair events.
Clippings, organized in loose chronological order, documenting Operation Rain/Snow Gauge activities, both statewide and in individual chapters. Some may be duplicated in the chronological files.
In 1944, the state association passed a resolution for each chapter to actively participate in farm safety programs. Over the years, often in concert with the Minnesota Safety Council's Farm Safety Committee and the 4-H, FFA members worked on programs to supply red-colored skull and crossbones tags to be applied to home and farm hazards, reflective lighting on farm equipment, stop and yield signs at farm driveway entrances, red flags for tractors, Look Up! Power Lines May Be Overhead decals, and Schools Open - Drive Safely bumper stickers. They also participated in projects advocating the use of smoke detectors and slow moving vehicle signs, safe tractor driving contests, numbering of farms for local fire departments, Farm Safety Week, clearing of rural intersections for visibility, vehicle safety checks, snowmobile drivers training, and community-wide campaigns for chemical, fire, gun, railroad crossing, and water safety programs.
FFA Safety statewide activities from 1944 through 1980 and lists of Minnesota Safety Council Meritorious Service Award recipients (1943-1963, 1973-1980), Minnesota Safety Council Professional Service Award (Agriculture)-Gold Watch Awards (1964-1980), and Minnesota State and National FFA Safety Awards (1951-1980).
Letters, memos, clippings, and related materials documenting the safety activities.
Black and white photographs mainly detailing the application of farm safety labels to farm machinery, erection of Stop and Yield signs, national convention booths, Minnesota Safety Awards, and the use of slow moving vehicle signs.
Organized in loose chronological order. Some may be duplicated in the Chronological files.
Correspondence, clippings, statistics, photographs, press releases, and related materials documenting the history and activities of the FFA at the Minnesota State Fair. The FFA began its affiliation with the State Fair in 1930 and in 1949, it became a fair department. FFA members were involved in livestock, crop, and horticultural competitions and shows, chapter and educational booths and displays, demonstration competitions, judging contests, tractor driving competitions, the State Fair Boys and Girls Camps (later known as the Youth Camp), and the Children's Barnyard. In 1957, a FFA Chapter House was constructed on the grounds.
Includes chronologies of past State Fair FFA events (1948-1977) and State Fair FFA events/contests/ activities (1909-1980), 1948-1973: 25 Years of FFA Activities at the Minnesota State Fair, and Minnesota FFA Celebrates 50 Years at the Minnesota State Fair (1997).
The annotations highlight topics or items of particular importance. Some materials may be duplicated in the Subject Files.
Includes information on the first livestock show (1948).
Documents the FFA booth, boys camp, children's barnyard, and chapter house.
Annual releases highlighting FFA activities at the fair and details of the 1968-1969 rooster crowing contests.
Rainfall contest and operation snow bank (1974).
Given in memory of Douglas K. Baldwin, former secretary/general manager of the State Fair.
Includes 1956 blueprints.
Mainly documents the 1957 construction, including blueprints and invitation to the August 30, 1957 dedication.
Includes materials on the University of Minnesota's Fair Management Short Course program.
Begun in 1912, eventually there was a Farm Girls' Camp added; in 1976, they became the Farm Youth Camp.
Amateur radio system used by the handicapped; during the fair it was set up at the Chapter House.
Guess the Weight contest.
Includes Education (1951-1982, incomplete), Tractor Contest (1966-1970), Ag-Hort-Bee (1977), and Livestock (1977).
Minnesota State Fair 1966-1976 and Children's Barnyards at State and County Fairs 1969-1977. Some clippings may be duplicated in the Chronological or Subject files.
Correspondence, work plans, clippings, constitutions and bylaws, handbooks, photographs, annual reports, and related materials documenting the history and activities of the state's individual chapters.
Several lists detailing the date and number of each chapter's charter, chapter advisors, and chapter histories.
Arranged alphabetically by community.
Ada, Adams, Aitkin, Alango, Albert Lea, Albany, Alberta, Alborn, AlBrook, Alden, Alexandria, Amboy, Amboy-Good Thunder, Annandale, Anoka, Appleton, Arlington-Green Isle, Ashby, Atwater, Audubon, Austin.
Bagley, Balaton, Barnesville, Barnum, Baudette, Belgrade, Belle Plaine, Bellingham, Bemidji, Benson, Bertha, Bertha-Hewitt, Bigfork, Bird Island, Blackduck, Blooming Prairie, Blue Earth, Boyd, Braham, Brainerd, Brandon, Breckenridge, Brewster, Brooten, Brookston, Browerville, Brownton, Buffalo, Buffalo Lake, Butterfield, Byron.
Caledonia, Cambridge, Campbell, Campbell-Tintah, Canby, Cannon Falls, Canton, Chandler, Chandler-Lake Wilson, Chaska, Cherry, Chisago City, Chisago Lakes, Chokio-Alberta, Clara City, Clarissa, Clarkfield, Clearbrook, Cleveland, Climax, Clinton, Cloquet, Cokato, Cold Spring-Rocori, Comfrey, Cook, Cosmos, Cottage Grove-Park, Cotton, Cromwell, Crookston, Crosby-Ironton, Cyrus.
Danube, Dassel, Dassel-Cokato, Dawson, Dawson-Boyd, Deer River, Delavan, Detroit Lakes, Dodge Center, Dover-Eyota, Duluth.
Eagle Bend, Echo, Eden Valley, Elbow Lake, Elk River, Ellendale, Evansville, Eveleth.
Kortesmaki served as this chapter's advisor from 1935-1938 and district advisor from 1937-1946. Includes information on agricultural clinics held in 1936-1937 and 1937-1938 and the FFA basketball team.
Contains photographs, clippings, ribbons, programs, correspondence, minutes, and work programs.
The first FFA chapter in the state, Kortesmaki was a member at its organization on October 29, 1929. Mainly materials documenting the 1976 installation of a plaque commemorating the first meeting, including clippings, photographs, correspondence, and two cassette tapes of first chapter advisor Leo L. Knuti's address. Also a published history Esko Chapter, Future Farmers of America, 1929-1949, Thomson Township Public Schools, Esko, Minnesota, Twentieth Anniversary History by A. L. Winterquist and Lauri Kortesmaki.
Fairfax, Fairmont, Faribault, Farmington, Felton, Fergus Falls, Fertile, Fisher, Floodwood, Foley, Forest Lake, Fosston, Franklin, Frazee, Freeborn, Fridley, Fulda.
Garden City, Gaylord, Gibbon, Gilbert, Glencoe, Glenville, Gonvick, Goodhue, Goodridge, Graceville, Grand Meadow, Grand Rapids, Granite Falls, Greenbush, Grove City, Grygla-Gatzke.
Hallock, Halstad, Harmony, Hastings, Hawley, Hayfield.
Hector, Henderson, Hendricks, Hendrum, Henning, Herman, Hibbing, Hills-Beaver Creek, Hinckley, Hoffman-Barrett, Holdingford, Hopkins, Houston, Howard Lake, Humboldt, Hutchinson.
Ivanhoe.
Jackson, Jaspar, Jeffers, Jordan.
Karlstad, Kasson-Mantorville, Keewatin, Kelliher, Kennedy, Kenyon, Kiester, Kimball.
Lake Benton, Lake City, Lake Crystal, Lakefield, Lakeville, Lamberton, Lancaster, Lanesboro, LeCenter, LeRoy-Ostrander, LeSueur, Lewiston, Lindstrom, Litchfield, Little Falls, Littlefork, Long Prairie, Luverne, Lyle, Lynd.
Mabel, Mabel-Canton, Madelia, Madison, Mahnomen, Mankato, Maple Lake, Mapleton, Marietta, Marshall, McIntosh, Melrose, Middle River, Milaca, Milan, Milroy, Minneapolis Roosevelt, Minneota, Minnesota Lake, Montevideo, Montgomery, Monticello, Moorhead, Moose Lake, Mora, Morgan, Motley, Moorhead, Mountain Lake.
Nevis, New London-Spicer, New Prague, New Richland, New Ulm, New York Mills, Nicollet, North Branch, Northfield, Northome, Norwood-Young America.
Ogilvie, Okabena, Okabena-Heron Lake, Olivia, Onamia, Orr, Ortonville, Osakis, Owatonna.
Park Rapids, Parkers Prairie, Paynesville, Pelican Rapids, Perham, Peterson, Pierz, Pillager, Pine City, Pine Island, Pipestone, Plainview, Plummer, Preston, Preston-Fountain, Princeton, Proctor.
Red Lake, Red Wing, Redwood Falls, Renville, Rochester, Roseau, Rosemount, Round Lake, Royalton, Rush City, Rushford, Ruthton.
Sacred Heart, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Cloud Apollo, St. Cloud Tech, St. Francis, St. James, St. Paul, St. Peter, Sanborn, Sandstone, Sauk Centre, Sauk Rapids, Sebeka.
Sherburn, Sioux Valley, Slayton, Sleepy Eye, South St. Paul, Southland, Spring Grove, Spring Valley, Springfield, Staples, Starbuck, Stephen, Stewart, Stewartville, Stillwater, Storden-Jeffers.
Taylors Falls, Thief River Falls, Tintah, Toivola-Meadowlands, Tracy, Trimont, Truman, Twin Valley, Two Harbors, Tyler.
Ulen, Underwood, Upsala, Verndale, Villard.
Wabasha, Wabasso, Waconia, Wadena, Waldorf, Walnut Grove, Wanamingo, Warren, Warroad, Waseca, Watertown, Waterville-Elysian, Wells, West Concord, Westbrook, Wheaton, White Bear Lake, Willmar, Willow River, Windom, Winnebago, Winona, Winthrop, Wood Lake, Worthington, Zumbrota.
Clippings documenting individual chapters' activities. Most are undated and non-attributed and appear to be in no discernible order.
Correspondence, reports, photographs, newsletters and publications, and related materials documenting the organization and activities of the state's districts.
May include letters, memos, annual meeting minutes, banquet programs, clippings, and related materials.
Includes annual reports for Districts 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 (summer 1939).
To evaluate the 1963 fall district and regional leadership meetings.
Contains random issues of the Seventh, First, Second, and Third District newsletters (1937-1939, 1958), The Minnesota Future Farmer (1933-1934, 1938), and the Tipton and Iowa Falls, Iowa newsletters (1937-1938).
Incomplete series.
Incomplete series.
Incomplete series.
Incomplete series.
Incomplete series.
Incomplete series.