SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES A Historical Account of Institutional

SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES A Historical Account of Institutional On. Farm Training in Oklahoma under the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, 1945 -1960

CONTENTS n n n Why do this study Background for study How was the study conducted Research findings Conclusions & recommendations

WHY DO THIS STUDY? n n – – – To increase the body of knowledge about the history of vocational education Research questions: How was institutional on-farm training administered in Oklahoma? How did institutional on-farm training influence the perception of vocational education and the development of the Oklahoma system of area vocational-technical schools? How were the social and economic lives of the veterans and their instructors and the communities in which they lived affected by their participation in on-farm training?

n BACKGROUND DATA History of vocational education – Pre-industrial § Agricultural education § Manual arts – Industrial Age § Federal aid to vocational education – Post-industrial n Origins of GI bill – New Deal vocational programs – Vocational Education for National Defense (VEND program) – Osburn Commission – P. L. 16 (Vocational Rehabilitation Act) – Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (a/k/a GI Bill of Rights) WPA Vocational Radio Class Buffalo, NY, 1938 C. C. C. Workers 1939

PRE-MODERN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION n n n n Apprenticeship Manual arts Morrill Act of 1862 The “Ivory Silo” & Hatch Act District schools of agriculture Smith-Leaver Act of 1914 Extension education Part-time Farmer on Resettlement Administration Subsistence Homestead. Iowa, 1938

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN THE INDUSTRIAL AGE n n n Manual training & engineering education in America Industrial Revolution & industrial education Progressive Age Social Efficiency vs. Social Reconstruction Smith-Hughes Act of 1917

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR THE POSTMODERN AGE n n n n Sputnik “The Other America” & the Great Society Production Agriculture Changes Service economy Automation Vocational Education Act of 1963 Area tech schools & the community college movement Sputnik shakes American technical confidence. 1958

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Historical research n Changing theoretical perspectives n – – – Critical postmodern Southern agrarianism Social construction of science & technology – Local revisionist historiography – Social & intellectual history of the Cold War n Studying Social Problems WPA School for Unemployed Women Brevard, N. C. , 1935 How the study was conducted?

HOW THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED? n n Problem definition Review of Existing Research on the GI Bill Document analysis Oral history component – – n Population sample Data collection procedures Sampling strategy Framing interview questions Data analysis & reporting GI Bill of Rights. 1944

FINDINGS n n NYA War Production Training New York, 1942 n n n n Veterans return to Okla. Vocational education in Oklahoma through 1945 James Barney Perky: Agricultural Education Entrepreneur Henry Garland Bennett: A. & M. entrepreneur OSU connection VEND Program Institutional on-farm training Oklahoma VATP organization Local VATP administration Teacher & trainee perceptions Creating the area vocational school system

VETERANS RETURN TO OKLAHOMA n n n n Citizen army “Bring the Boys Home” “ 40 acres & a Jeep”: the Back to the Land movement VA & implementation of the GI Bill of 1944 General Omar Bradley & VA Instruction # 8 Wheeler Act of 1947 Korean War Veterans’ Assistance Act of 1952 B-29 Aircrew 330 th Bomb Group Guam, 1945

STATE BOARD FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION OF OKLAHOMA n n n Act of Acceptance Board for Vocational Education 1929 Education Act 1941 Education Act SBVE grew consistent with the development of the public administration field Oklahoma City, 1949

OKLAHOMA STATE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION Dr. Henry G. Bennett n n n J. B. Perky Agricultural education – for the basic industry of Oklahoma OAMC/SBVE agreement – Gov. Alfalfa Bill Murray J. B. Perky & Henry Bennett VEND Programs VEND programs gave the SBVE the opportunity to implement largescale adult vocational education programs

OKLAHOMA VATP PROGRAM VATP grew dramatically in 1946 -1950 n VATP was a “cash cow” allowing the VE Division to establish a new division with 50 -60 employees n State Accrediting Agency n VATP dwindled after Korean War and was closed out in 1960 n Gov. Roy J. Turner (r. ) presents livestock award to Veteran-Trainees Lefty Martin & Ed Roy. 1948 Turner Field Day & Judging Contest Hereford Heaven Ranch, Sulphur, Okla.

LOCAL VATP PROGRAMS Cumulative total of over 42, 000 trainees n At its peak in 1949, Okla. VATP had 15, 500 trainees in 700 class taught in 352 schools n Local administration included use of advisory boards & principles of community education n Board of Education Broken Arrow, 1949

VETERANS’ INSTRUCTORS n n School systems hired hundreds of instructors for the VATP classes Instructors were qualified if they held a 2 -yr. degree from a school of agriculture & were not required to be certified teachers Many instructors viewed the VATP as a “readjustment allowance” until the Veteran was settled VATP included 200 classroom hours of instruction & 100 hours of supervised agricultural experience per year Instructor J. C. Landers & Trainee Gene Mc. Nally with Aberdeen Angus herd Guthrie, Okla. , 1949

VETERAN-TRAINEES n Veterans interviewed had mixed opinions on the VATP: – “one of the finest programs that the federal government ever come up with” – “worst scam the federal government ever played on the American people because no one got anything out being in the program and it’s clear that someone made a lot of money from it” Guthrie Veteran-Trainees in a Soil Science Lab, 1949 Many trainees left the farm for industrial employment n Many veterans were impressed with adult vocational education & were willing to tax themselves to pay for it in their community n Rentiesville Veteran-Trainee Joseph Lacour & “colored” Instructor Benjamin Moore, 1949

CREATING AREA SCHOOLS n n Gov. Henry Bellmon n Industrial growth of Okla. due to war production Postwar leaders worked for industrial development OSU Technical School in Okmulgee & OSU-OKC Area redevelopment & area schools SQ 434 – May 1966

CONCLUSIONS n n n n VATP purpose was a program in technical agricultural education VATP implementation was “picket fence” federalism VATP administration traditional managerial public administration VATP was community education VATP was a part of the democratization & support of education in 1944 -1978 postwar period (GI Bill to Prop 13) VATP teachers & trainees were impressed with quality of adult vocational education An unintended consequence of the VATP was leadership development Veterans Agricultural Training Class Marshall, 1948

RECOMMENDATIONS Further study of the VATP is needed n Another research need is critical history of vocational education & training in Oklahoma Career. Tech should organize archives for better research n Veterans’ benefit programs must address social or economic goals rather than recruiting or bonus issues n Farm Shop Class Vian, 1949

THE END SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES: A Historical Account of Institutional On-Farm Training in Oklahoma under the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act Of 1944, 1945 -1960 Bruce E. Niemi July 11, 2005