Authored by Robert Voyles

The remnants of the first commencement program for the New York State School of Agriculture on Long Island Class of 1919.

Farmingdale State College was not always named as such and had a narrower purpose than what it has become today. It began as an agricultural school, then called the New York State School of Agriculture on Long Island, with class sizes not much larger than a dozen students (Farmingdale State College 2018b). The college will be celebrating its centennial graduation in the spring of 2019 and there is a desire to reminisce about the first graduating class 100 years ago in 1919. Outside of a few documents that detail the day-to-day of school administration and the 1919 class yearbook, little information has been retained in the school archives of the first class. The commencement program normally is a booklet filled with information on the activities that take place for graduation. The program for the Class of 1919, however, had little to show except for a schedule. Continue reading →