A HISTORY OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA SECONDARY SCHOOLS AN INCLUSIVE COMPILATIN OF VOLUMES I THE PERIOD 1901 – 1940 II THE PERIOD 1940 – 1969 III THE PERIOD 1969 – 1974 IV THE PERIOD 1974 – 1981 By: Sidney S. Sutherland, Professor Emeritus Department of Agricultural Education University of California Davis, California Covering the Periods of 1901-1969 And Herbert H. Burlingham, Professor Emeritus California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California Covering the Periods of 1969-1981 PREFACE This Preface to the inclusion compilation of Volumes I, II, III and IV is prepared for the purpose of identifying and clarifying the status and form of the preceding texts and publications covering the years of the HISTORY from 1901 to 1974. The first published HISTORY covered the period from 1901 to 1940. It was simply so identified and not marked as “Volume I.” It was compiled and edited by Sidney S. Sutherland, at the time on the faculty at the University of California, Davis and the Staff of the Bureau of Agricultural Education, State Department of Education as Agriculture Teacher Trainer under an agreement between the Bureau and the University. The 1901-1940 publication was published in mimeograph form by the Bureau of Agricultural Education, State Department of Education. The second HISTORY, also published in mimeographed form by the Bureau of Agricultural Education, carried the complete story from 1901 to 1969. Again, this publication was not identified as “Volume II” but that is what it was, to all intents and purposes. The update for the Period 1940-69 was written by Mr. Sutherland, now Professor Emeritus, Department of Agricultural Education, University of California, Davis. Professor Sutherland retired from active professional service at the University in 1965. At that time and for some time previous, he had been Head of the Department. Volume III included an update for the Period 1969-1974. It also included the texts of the Period 1901-1940 and 1940-1969. Published in duplicated form by the Bureau of Agricultural Education, State Department of Education, it was compiled and authored by Herbert H. Burlingham, Professor Emeritus, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Professor Burlingham retired as Head of the Agricultural Education Department at Cal Poly on July 1, 1972. So, thus we identify the VOLUMES of HISTORY OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA SECONDARY SCHOOLS as: Volume I – The Period 1901 – 1940 Volume II – The Period 1940 – 1969 Volume III – The Period 1969 – 1974 Volume IV – The Period 1974 – 1981 Herbert H. Burlingham January, 1982 FOREWORD to Volumes I and II 2 This history of agricultural education in California is primarily a history of vocational education in high schools and junior colleges of the state. It includes the complete text of A History of Agricultural Education in the Secondary Schools of California published as a mimeograph by the Bureau of Agricultural Education in 1940 and draws heavily upon the annual reports made by the Bureau to the U. S. Office of Education for data concerning development from 1940 to date. The manuscript was read by Byron J. McMahon, Howard F. Chappell, Donald E. Wilson and E. David Graf all of whom were leaders in administering and supervising vocational education in agriculture in California during much of its development. My sincere thanks are hereby expressed to them for their suggestions and advice FORWARD to Volumes III and IV In preparing the earlier “Forward”, author S. S. Sutherland wrote, “This history of agricultural education in California is primarily a history of vocational education in the high schools and junior colleges of the state”. He made references to the first mimeographed pamphlet produced by the Bureau of Agricultural Education in 1940 and expressed appreciation to those who read the text which carried the story forward to 1969 – Byron J. McMahon, Howard F. Chappell, Donald E. Wilson, and E. David Graf. There has been some change in the structure of public education in California in recent years but this issue of the HISTORY is still concerned primarily with vocational education in agriculture in California Secondary Schools. The additional text covering the period 1969 to 1974, encompasses a time-span in which literally scores of major, and sometimes critical, happenings occurred. The information, much of which has been necessarily briefed, has been drawn from many sources which have been, I believe, included in the List of References. Suggestions were solicited from present and former staff members of the Bureau of Agricultural Education, and some of the information is from first-hand knowledge of the present author. Various persons have read various parts of the manuscript and their suggestions are appreciated. Helpful (and critical) grammatical and literary suggestions have been volunteered by the writer’s loving and competent wife and by his equally well qualified daughter. The ultimate responsibility for content, commentary, and any expressed but undocumented, or personal professional opinions, however, is fully assumed by Herbert H. Burlingham. VOLUME I – 1901 to 1940 3 Agricultural Education In California Secondary Schools The entire development of agricultural education in the elementary and secondary schools of California is recent. Prior to 1900 only two institutions in the offered regular instruction in agriculture - - the College of Agriculture of the University of California, and the Chaffey College of Agriculture, the latter a private institution established in 1883 and continuing instruction in this subject through 1895. At the turn of the century, only one institution, the State University, was giving instruction in this subject, while forty years later, agricultural education existed, to some extent, in at least five other different types of public schools - - the public elementary schools, the public junior and senior high schools, junior colleges, special state schools and state teachers colleges. Early efforts to establish agricultural education in the public schools in California coincide roughly with the areas of greatest agricultural development in the state. The period of 1900- 1910 not only say the bringing of California’s fertile valleys under irrigation and cultivation, but also the introduction of education in agriculture to its public schools; 1917-24 was not only a period of rapid expansion for the horticultural enterprises of the state, but also brought with it the introduction of vocational education to the secondary school system. The diversity of California agriculture and the complexity of its agricultural problems has made the establishment of education in this subject peculiarly difficult. A report by Wilson Flint in 1859 to the State Agricultural Society makes the following statement, “Possessed of a climate with every grade of heat and cold of all the zones, it is believed that all the fruits and plants indigenous to all climes could be acclimated with great facility for general culture in California.” The extent to which his prediction has come true may be determined by the fact that today, California derives its farm income from over 200 crops and livestock enterprises, and in many communities in which agriculture is taught in secondary schools farmers produce more than fifty separate and distinct farm commodities. In the “roaring twenties” one county boasted that “every known crop which is useful to mankind will not only grow but thrive in Yolo County”, and the boast was not without foundation. Lacking the unifying influence of one or two major crop or livestock enterprises common to the entire state, it is not surprising that the period of experimentation and of “trial and error” in agriculture courses in high school of the state was more extended than in states where agriculture was less diversified. Not to be overlooked in the development of agriculture in the public schools is the influence of the University of California, where academic traditions have always been paramount, and academic standards high; where, to quote from E. J. Wickson, one-time director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, “The June of vocational training was wedded to the December of classical culture, and they could not immediately learn and love each other’s ways.” In passing, it might be noted that June has never proved a match for December in the entire history of the College of Agriculture, with the result that agriculture courses in high schools taught by graduates of the University, tended in the beginning, and until recently still tended to be academic and scientific rather than practical. Early Developments 1900-1905 4 This period is characterized by the development of agriculture in state schools. Not yet had this subject found its way into the curriculum of the secondary school, and not until 1907 when the State Legislature through Section 1665 of the Political Code required all elementary schools to give “instruction in nature study with special reference to agriculture”, did it receive more than passing attention in the lower grades. In 1901 the Legislature passed the act establishing the California Polytechnic School at San Luis Obispo, and two years later, in October 1903, the school opened for instruction, as a vocational school, to teach agriculture, mechanics, commercial and household arts. Of the total number enrolled (176) about on-third were in the Agriculture course. Dr. Leroy Anderson, who was closely identified in this and other institutions with the early development of agricultural education, was in charge of the San Luis Obispo institution. Thus, this school became the first public institution in the state outside the University of California to offer instruction in Agriculture, nd the first to teach this subject on the secondary level. It is of interest to note that this school, which later became so closely identified with the development of vocational education in agriculture in California, should have been the first in the field. The 1905 Legislation passed a proposition providing $150,000 for the purchase and equipment of a University Farm to be selected by a commission created for that purpose by the law.