Farmingdale State College: College Archives at Greenley Library

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A Festschrift for Mary Katherine Peters: A Testimonial by Friends and Fellow Workers at the State Institute of Agriculture at Farmingdale of the Enduring Esteem and High Regard Held for Mary Katherine Peters.

Authored by Elena Paparatto

This image shows the green front cover of a festschrift. in the middle of the cover, the title states, a testimonial of the enduring esteem and high regard held for Mary Katherine Peters.

This image shows the front cover of the festschrift compiled in honor of Mary Katherine Peters retirement from The New York State Institute of Agriculture in 1939. During her 21 years of service at the institute she managed to positively impact both students and staff leaving behind her a legacy of exceptional work and inspiring service.

In academia, a festschrift is a collection of writing in honor of a scholar usually presented during the lifetime of the recipient. In this case the festschrift is a collection of letters assembled by friends, students, and fellow workers of Mary Katherine Peters (“A Festschrift” 1934).

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Upward Bound: Propelling Veterans to Their Futures at Farmingdale University

Authored by Julianne Odin

A press release announcing the formation of an outreach program for veterans at the Agricultural and Technical College at Farmingdale. The release notes the College’s particular interest in serving “academically disadvantaged” veterans and describes the remedial program of study that would be made available to them.

No discussion of post-World War II American history would be complete without a description of veterans’ education benefits, which allowed for unprecedented societal advancement by individuals who served their country. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, education benefits had become inextricably tied to military service, forever altering Americans’ perceptions of the nature of military service and citizenship (Boulton 2014). This development is largely due to Vietnam War veterans, a greater percentage of whom took advantage of the educational benefits available to them than their World War II and Korean War counterparts (Arminio, Kudo Grabosky, and Lang 2014, 12).

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Farmingdale’s First Director Fights Famine Overseas Through Agriculture

Authored by Kimberly Simmons

Furrow
A page from the August 1921 edition of the student publication The Furrow, featuring article “Bon Voyage, Director Johnson!” At the time of its writing, Johnson had recently embarked on a humanitarian journey to the Near East.

The Furrow was a student publication (1916-1921) of the New York State Institute of Applied Agriculture, currently Farmingdale State College. The digitized item selected here is an article from the August 1921 edition, titled “Bon Voyage, Director Johnson!” (1921). Here we are informed of the journey of the Institute’s first director, Albert A. Johnson, who had recently set out to regions of the Near East that were in the throes of famine.

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Aviation at Farmingdale State College: Bringing the World a Little Closer

Authored by Michael J. Krasnoff

Farmingdale State University of New York

Taken of an unnamed student at Farmingdale State University’s Engineering Technology program. This photo does more than portray a student and a plane, it is a living document of Farmingdale State University as a pioneer in creating a post-World War II college level aviation program that was previously only offered in vocational schools.

World War II played a major role in the evolution of the workforce. “The war left an altered economy that demanded a workforce whose education and training needed to be more technical in nature” (Cavaioli 2012, 139).

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Memorial Oak Tree at Farmingdale State College: A Living Tribute

Authored by Jaimie A. Albanese

An image of a pile of parcels on the ground, each with an attached paper tag stating the parcel's place of origin. The pile is surrounded by small flags from different countries stuck into the ground.

Taken during the Memorial Tree Planting Ceremony on June 4, 1921, this photograph shows the soil used in the planting of the Memorial Oak. The soil was gathered from each state in the United States, including the territory of Alaska, and countries who were members of the Allied Powers during WWI.

During the post-WWI era, the planting of memorial trees served as a popular tribute (Robbins 2003). Unfortunately, many have fallen or the plaques that once showed their dedication have been destroyed or lost (Gangloff 2003, 5). At the Farmingdale State College campus, one such “memorial that lives” (Gangloff 2003, 5) still stands strong almost a century later. Continue reading →