Flying Farmers & Farm and Home Week at OAMC - Edmon Low Library

About the Collection

The Oklahoma Flying Farmers Collection documents the early history of the Oklahoma Flying Farmers, an organization founded in 1944 at the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (OAMC) with strong support from President Henry G. Bennett. Established for farmers who owned and operated aircraft in their agricultural work, the group quickly gained visibility and influence. The National Flying Farmers Association later emerged from this Oklahoma-based initiative.

The Oklahoma Flying Farmers held their first convention at OAMC in 1945, drawing more than 2,000 attendees. The campus also hosted the first National Flying Farmers Association convention the following year. The films in this collection feature newsreel-style footage from these gatherings, as well as from the 1947 and 1949 Farm and Home Week events, capturing a period when aviation and agricultural innovation intersected in transformative ways.

The original films were produced on nitrate stock, a highly unstable and flammable format. For preservation and safety, the OSU Library converted the materials to digital files with support from a grant awarded by the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF). This federal grant program helps preserve America's film heritage and expand public access for research, education, and exhibition.