John W. Parris
Spartanburg County 4-H alumnus
John W. Parris was born May 30, 1936 and grew up on a small farm in upper Spartanburg County, South Carolina. In the 5th grade, 1947, he attended his first 4-H Club meeting at New Prospect School and decided to become a member. He eventually served as president of the New Prospect 4-H Club during his eighth-grade year in 1949-50.
At age 14, Parris was chosen to represent Spartanburg County at the State 4-H Conservation Camp at Camp Rocky Bottom in Pickens County in July 1950. He was asked to present the devotional at the opening session of the camp. Later that evening, a representative of the National 4-H Office in Washington, DC was the keynote speaker. He spent some time discussing careers in conservation and to emphasize his point he pointed down toward Parris seated on the front row and said, “The young man who gave the devotional earlier this evening may someday head up a state conservation agency.” He never thought about that statement again until the evening of January 1, 1972, as he sat in his office in Columbia, SC as the new executive director of the agency that was to become the State Land Resources Commission a few weeks later. All of a sudden… the remarks the man from Washington, DC, had made 22 years earlier about ‘the boy may someday be head of a state conservation agency’ at Camp Rocky Bottom came rushing into his mind.
Parris’ accolades are numerous, and his 4-H achievements are at the top of his personal list. In 1951, Parris was named the state winner of the 4-H Citizenship Recognition Program. He served as Secretary of the Spartanburg County 4-H Council in 1952-53 and treasurer of the State 4-H Council in 1953-54. Parris was one of four outstanding 4-H Club members from South Carolina selected to attend the 1954 National 4-H Camp in Washington, DC.
This was the highest honor that could come to a 4-H Club member in South Carolina a the time. While in Washington, Parris and the other delegates met with President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the White House. Parris was chosen along with a delegate from Louisiana to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery during a special 4-H Ceremony. In the summer of 1954, Parris was a member and high individual scorer of the first State 4-H Championship Land Judging Team from Spartanburg County held at Clemson University during Farm and Home Week.
Parris enrolled in Clemson University in August 1954 and attended the National 4-H Congress in Chicago, Illinois, November 27-December 2, 1954. He attended the Congress as the Southern State Regional Winner in Community Relations. While at the Congress he was awarded the Alpha Gamma Rho Scholarship as the Outstanding 4-H Boy in the nation based on 4-H Achievement, Leadership, and Scholarship.
In 1956-57, Parris served as president of Clemson Collegiate 4-H Organization. As a highlight of his service in that leadership position, Parris originated the idea of the first State Rural Young Folks Day and served as the student chairman. The event, attended by hundreds of young people from rural South Carolina and adjoining states, was held in conjunction with Farm and Home Week at Clemson. Parris also served as chaplain of the State 4-H Alumni Council in 1957-58.
While at Clemson, Parris was an active member of the Clemson Baptist Church and Student Union and served for two years as chair of the Missions Committee of the Baptist Student Union. In that position, Parris conducted a worship service every Monday evening for two years at the Baptist Retirement Home in Six Mile, SC. His worship team included a song leader, organist, pianist, and soloist who led in a musical program before Parris spoke. His worship team conducted Sunday evening worship services in Baptist Churches throughout Anderson, Pickens, and Oconee Counties almost every Sunday for two years. Parris served as a writer for the Clemson College of Agriculture AGRARIAN magazine during his senior year. Additionally, during his senior year at Clemson, Parris served as president of the Collegiate FFA Organization. He also served as the Associate Student Body Chaplain that included writing religious columns for the Clemson TIGER, coordinating week-day Morning Watch Religious Services in the Student Chapel, offering the invocation before meals in the dining hall, and praying at Clemson football games.
Upon graduation from Clemson, Parris served as an Agricultural Education Instructor at Chester High School for six years and in Anderson City Schools for two years. While he was teaching, he was a co-founder and charter director of the South Carolina Horse Show Association. He organized an accredited horse show in Chester that was named the outstanding horse show in South Carolina. While in Anderson, he chaired the Tri-State Accredited Horse Show that drew more than 300 horses from five states at the first show in 1965.
In 1966, Parris was named associate executive director of the South Carolina Soil and Water Conservation Commission. In January 1972, he became executive director of the agency that became the South Carolina Land Resources Commission with additional responsibilities in land management and natural resource conservation in March of that year. Parris is nationally recognized for introducing drip irrigation technology to South Carolina farmers and other agriculturalists. He had learned about the water conservation technology while on a study trip to Israel in the early 1970s. He is equally recognized for introducing conservation tillage or no-till farming technology to farmers in the state. He secured federal funds to purchase no-till drills for each conservation district to make available to local farmers to experiment with until they were ready to purchase a drill. He arranged to have the first drip irrigation installation equipment made to use in demonstration sites throughout the state and eventually used federal funds to purchase drip irrigation equipment for each conservation district to make available to interested farmers. He was successful in securing the enactment of state legislation to provide for a state income tax credit for farmers when purchasing a no-till drill or drip irrigation installation equipment.
The Land Resources Commission was the state agency responsible for the registration of professional landscape architects. As a result of his interest in a Landscape Architecture Degree at Clemson, Parris persuaded the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education to approve Clemson’s request to begin a Landscape Architecture Degree after they had denied the request.
Parris is still recognized nationally for his leadership in promoting conservation education. He established the State Conservation Workshop for Youth in the late 1960s to provide 100 or more high school students with intensive natural resource conservation training and appreciation. A highlight of the week-long event was a trip down the Chattooga River Rapids and the awarding of scholarships to delegates who scored highest on the exam at the end of the workshop.
In an effort to design programs to assist in funding conservation education, Parris organized the South Carolina Conservation Districts Foundation. The foundation presents a number of valuable scholarships annually and is the primary sponsor of the South Carolina Envirothon.
Parris was personally responsible for the transfer of the valuable state-owned Roper Mountain property near Greenville to the Greenville County School District to develop an Environmental Science Center.
A respected state agency head by the South Carolina General Assembly, Parris led in securing the enactment of state legislation providing for increased conservation district funding, mined land reclamation, dams and reservoir safety, registration of professional Landscape Architects and Soil Classifiers, and stormwater management and sediment reduction. He was successful in securing state funding for urban community flood reduction projects.
Parris, rightfully so, is a highly decorated man. In recognition of his dynamic leadership in natural resource conservation, Parris was the first and only one from South Carolina to receive the National Professional Conservationist Award presented by the National Association of Conservation Districts. Parris was named MAN OF THE YEAR IN SERVICE TO AGRICULTURE for 1980 by the Progressive Farmer magazine. A long-time supporter of the South Carolina 4-H Program, Parris was also named the OUTSTANDING 4-H ALUMNUS by the Clemson Cooperative Extension Service in 1989. Parris was also recognized as a CENTENNIAL DISTINGUISHED AGRICULTURAL ALUMNUS and Alumni Fellow by Clemson University. In addition, The National FFA Organization has presented Parris the Honorary American FFA Degree and the prestigious VIP AWARD. Parris was the first South Carolinian named to the National Conservation Hall of Fame by the National Association of Conservation Districts. Governor Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. presented Parris the ORDER OF THE PALMETTO in 1994.
A dedicated professional, Parris has served as president of the South Carolina Agricultural Council, the South Carolina Soil and Water Conservation Society, the Pendleton Farmers Society and continues to serve as a member and former president of the Clemson University Agriculture Alumni Board of Directors. He also served as a charter member of the National Watershed Coalition. He chaired the first eastern states conference on drip irrigation, the first chairman of the tri-state dams and reservoir safety conference, and the first chairman of the southern states conference on mined land reclamation.
Parris is a member of the Columbia Rotary Club, the Capital City Club and the First Baptist Church of Columbia, South Carolina. Additionally, he is a life member of the State Agricultural and Mechanical Society and an honorary life member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The Clemson University Foundation currently administers the John W. Parris Agricultural Leadership Endowment for the purpose of awarding scholarships to outstanding students in the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences who demonstrate substantial agricultural leadership qualities.
Thank you Mr. Parris for sharing your 4-H story! If you would like to be featured in a future newsletter, please fill out this form or contact Marie Bolt at the following email address jeanneo@clemson.edu.
Submitted by: John W. Parris and Laura Huff
