Southern School of Agriculture records

The Southern School of Agriculture (SSA), located in Waseca, Minnesota, was established in 1953. Its establishment came about as a result of concern among area legislators, educators and residents about the high drop out rate of rural school age youth in Southern Minnesota and limited interest in formal education at the secondary level.

A 1944 survey of 28 counties, conducted by County Superintendents, found that 23,785 youth between the ages of 16 and 20, as well as 7,951 youth between 16 and 17 years were not attending school. Several reasons were cited for non-attendance:

1) Traditional high schools were not equipped to offer vocational and agricultural training to rural youth.

2) Schools that did offer vocational and agricultural training were not necessarily convenient to area youth.

3) A regular high school curriculum requiring nine months meant that farm youth had to spend too much time in school during active farm months.

4) University Farm in St. Paul, which logically should have served Southern Minnesota, was not attracting students by the 1940's.

These reasons were stated in the Proponent Brief for Establishment of a School of Agriculture at Waseca, "submitted to the Board of Regents by C.W. Spaulding, circa January 1945, is located in the Historical File.

In 1919 the Minnesota State Legislature designated land for an agricultural school in Southern Minnesota. It was to be located at the Southeast Experiment Station that was established in 1912. However, no funding was appropriated to finance establishment of a school until a Bill was introduced to the Legislature in 1947. The Bill was passed on April 24, 1947 in both Houses with $750,000 to be appropriated after July 1, 1949 for the purpose of building a school. In 1949, the Legislature supplemented the appropriation by $338,000 for additional buildings and provided $617,000 for construction of a dormitory. The actual development of the Southern School was influenced by the successful operation of schools of agriculture already established in outstate Minnesota at Crookston, Morris, and Grand Rapids.

The School was opened on January 5, 1953 with an enrollment of 42 students. Its purpose as stated in a 1952 letter to area students was "to train boys for better farm living through wider understanding of crops, livestock and soils, through the development of farm shop skills and crafts and through further understanding the fundamentals of farm management." Girls were admitted to the School for the fall term of 1953. The School operated on a six-month basis between September and March and consisted of two terms. The remainder of the year was devoted to supervised home experiences provided by the Home Experience Program. The Home Experience Program allowed students to apply knowledge and skills learned in the classroom, laboratories and shops to the farm and home operation. At least two supervisory visits were made to student's homes to provide a liaison between home and school.

Operation of the School was closely coordinated with the Southern Experiment Station and some of the staff had dual responsibilities in both teaching and research. For these reasons it is sometimes difficult to separate the activities of the two, as is indicated in the records.

A Principal was responsible for the operation of the School and a Superintendent oversaw both the School and the Experiment Station. The following individuals held these positions:

Robert E. Hodgson, Superintendent of the Experiment Station, 1919-1960; Superintendent of the Southern School, 1953-1960.

Bernard E. Youngquist, Principal of the Southern School, 1953-1956; Left to become Superintendent of the School and Experiment Station at Crookston.

Deane A. Turner, Principal of the school, 1956-1960, Superintendent, 1960-1964.

Robert M. Collins, Principal of the School, 1960-1973.

Edward C. Frederick, Superintendent, 1964-1969. (In 1969, Frederick became Director of Waseca Technical College. The title was changed to Provost in 1970.)

In 1967, the Minnesota Legislature requested that the Board of Regents review the program at the Southern School of Agriculture, due to several changes that occurred since the opening of the School in 1953. High school attendance had improved, reflecting a change in attitudes by rural families toward education and awareness of the need for a high school diploma, many rural youth were leaving the farm in response to changes in agriculture and more secondary schools had begun offering programs in vocational agriculture.

In 1969 the Minnesota State Legislature passed a Bill providing that the Southern School of Agriculture be phased out. A two-year technical college was to be established and scheduled to start in 1971. For two years, programs of both the School of Agriculture and Technical College ran concurrently until the last class of students graduated from the Southern School of Agriculture in 1973. After the closing of the Southern School, many of the activities and events that occurred during its operation continued with the Technical College. For further information, consult the Recurring Events files in the records of the Waseca Technical College.