Corey D. Flournoy’s Future Farmers of America Jacket

Description:

Corey D. Flournoy wore this blue corduroy jacket during his time as the first African-American president of the Future Farmers of America in 1994 and 1995. The blue jacket has the FFA seal on the left breast, with "Corey D. Flournoy / National President / 1994 - 95" embroidered in yellow on the right breast. A large FFA seal adorns the back of the jacket.

Although he was uninterested in becoming a farmer, Flournoy was compelled to join FFA in 1988 as part of the curriculum at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Studies. Due to the diversity of agricultural experiences excluding farming such as food science, aquaculture, horticulture, restaurant management, animal science, biotechnology, business, and engineering—Flournoy became active in the organization, and was elected Vice President of the Illinois FFA when he graduated high school. While attending the University of Illinois College Of Agriculture, Flournoy was named president on November 12, 1994 at the annual FFA convention. In addition to being the first African-American president, he was also the first president from an urban area as the FFA sought to expand its focus to include a wider range of “agribusiness” issues. Flournoy has continued to be active in agricultural industries as the founding director of the Illinois Center for Urban Agricultural Education that works with high school teachers, business partners and community organizations around Chicago with the goal of connecting students to the many career possibilities associated with agriculture.

The FFA was founded in 1928 to engage youngsters with agriculture and prepare young farmers for the future challenges of farming. In 1933 the band from the Fredericktown chapter of the FFA wore the blue corduroy jacket to the sixth annual convention, where the delegates became so enamoured with the jacket that it was adopted by the organization as its official dress.