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The
Creed’s opening statement reads, "I believe in the future of
farming with a faith born not of words but of deeds. . ." Tiffany
wanted to put into words what the FFA, known then as the Future Farmers
of America, stood for and believed in. He wrote the Creed while setting
up an exhibit for the first Wisconsin State FFA Convention in 1928.
"I got the idea that a statement of ideals for the FFA might fit in
with the exhibit," wrote Tiffany in a 1948 letter.
In
1929, exactly one year after he wrote the Creed, the words were printed
in an issue of Agriculture Education Magazine. As stated earlier,
the FFA delegates at the 1930 National Convention adopted it as the
official FFA Creed.
Paragraph
two begins, "I believe that to live and work on a good farm is
pleasant as well as challenging; for I know the joys and discomforts of
farm life. . ." According to the FFA Student Handbook,
"Tiffany’s knowledge of agriculture came from first-hand
experience. Like most farm boys born in the late 1800s, he was raised on
a farm. He left his family’s farm, graduated in 1902 with a classics
degree and began work as a high school principal. His strong passion for
agricultural education led him to receive a degree in agriculture and
eventually pursue a master’s degree in agricultural education. By
1920, he was working at the University of Wisconsin training vocational
agriculture teachers. As Tiffany traveled the state training teachers,
he saw the opportunities that FFA provided for farm boys."
A
few years after the Creed was written, Tiffany wrote, "One reason
for the success of the Future Farmers of America is found in the name
itself. Here is an organization built upon the humble task of making a
living from the soil. To find inspiration in that, men must have their
minds not up in the clouds, but certainly much higher than the
clouds."
The
fifth and final paragraph says, "I believe that rural America can
and will hold true to the best traditions in our national life and that
I can exert an influence in my home and community which will stand solid
for my part in that inspiring task."
Times
and technology have drastically changed the features of American
agriculture and the make up of the National FFA Organization from the
way they were in 1928 when Tiffany wrote the creed. As the FFA has
evolved, so has the Creed, with small changes made to Tiffany’s
original version.
Tiffany
said a few years before his death, "I have often said that it is
the organization that has made the Creed what it is, and it is the work
of the members and leaders that has made the organization what it is.
Without them, the Creed itself would be meaningless."
Today,
reciting the FFA Creed is a tradition and a requirement for receiving
the Greenhand FFA Degree, and as mentioned earlier, there is also a
creed speaking development event. It is because of visionaries and
friends like E.M. Tiffany that the FFA was founded, nourished and made
into the largest youth organization in the world. And, it is up to
current and former FFA members to continue the aspirations of the FFA’s
founding principles another 80 years. |
