Oliver H. Kinzie: National FFA President 1944–45
Oklahoma · No. 18 of 100 · National FFA President 1944–45
At a Glance
- Office: National FFA President, 1944–45 (No. 18 of 100)
- Home state: Oklahoma, from Cushing
- Chapter and advisor: Cushing FFA, chartered in 1934 by agriculture teacher Dick Fisher
- Later work: A family dairy, then a soft-serve ice cream operation, then family restaurants
Oliver Kinzie led the Future Farmers of America in 1944–45, the next-to-last year of World War II, when more than 138,000 FFA members were serving in the armed forces. He was a student of the Cushing, Oklahoma, FFA chapter and later built three family businesses from the dairy heritage his family brought to the program.
Cushing FFA
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education’s hall of fame says Dick Fisher organized and chartered the Cushing FFA chapter in 1934 and taught vocational agriculture there for 16 years. It calls the election of his student Oliver Kinzie as national FFA president in 1944 the highlight of Fisher’s teaching career. Kinzie was a member of the Cushing High School class of 1944 and appears in the school yearbook as a senior and a student council member.
The Wartime Presidency, 1944–45
The 1944 convention was held while the war was still on. The FFA Foundation was formed that year in Washington, and the first National FFA Agriculture Proficiency Award was presented, in agricultural mechanics. FFA’s timeline records that 138,548 members were serving in the armed services in World War II. During his year, Kinzie was photographed at a dinner with then-Vice President Harry S. Truman. Truman would later sign the 1950 bill granting FFA a federal charter.
Business After FFA
According to Oklahoma Today, Kinzie combined his family’s dairy heritage with what he learned in FFA to create three businesses: a dairy, then a soft-serve ice cream operation, then family restaurants in Cushing. His grandson Jason Kinzie, who now oversees the family’s restaurant business, told the magazine that his grandfather was never one to brag about meeting President Truman but always credited FFA for his success and supported the organization throughout his life.
Legacy
Oklahoma has produced more National FFA presidents than any other state, with Kinzie the second of nine. His story, a Cushing dairy boy who became national president and then a hometown business owner, is a reminder that many past presidents returned to their own communities and built local enterprises.
Next: J. Glyndon Stuff, 1945–46 →