Woman's Land Army of America

The Woman's Land Army of America (WLAA), later the Woman's Land Army (WLA), was a civilian organization created during the First and Second World Wars to work in agriculture replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the WLAA were sometimes known as farmerettes. The WLAA was modeled on the British Woman's Land Army.

The Woman's Land Army of America (WLAA) operated from 1917 to 1919, organized in 42 states, and employing more than 20,000 women. It was inspired by the women of Great Britain who had organized as the Woman's Land Army, also known as the Land Girls or Land Lassies. The women of the WLAA were known as "farmerettes". The term "farmettes derived from suffragettes and was originally used to pejoratively, but ultimately became positively associated with patriotism and women's war efforts. Many of the women of the WLAA were college educated, and units were associated with colleges. Most of them had never worked on farms before. The WLAA primarily consisted of college students, teachers, secretaries, and those with seasonal jobs or occupations which allowed summer vacation. They were paid equally with male farm laborers and had an eight-hour workday. The WLAA workers eventually became wartime icons, much as Rosie the Riveter would in World War Two.

In 1917, Harriot Stanton Blatch, daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, became the director of the WLAA. White, middle-upper class married women held administrative positions within the WLAA. Fourteen women served as the WLAA's board of directors. The president of the board of directors was Mrs. William H. Schofield. The board of directors of the WLAA sought to establish labor and living standards for WLAA workers through a unit system consisting of Community Units, Single Farm Units, and Individual Units. The number of women per Community Unit varied anywhere from 4 to 70 workers, who lived in a communal camp but were employed on different surrounding farms. Single Farm Units composed of women workers all employed on the same local farm. Both Community and Single Farm Units had their own captain to oversee daily productivity and management. Individual Units were less common, and they consisted of a single women worker employed on a local farm.

The WLAA operated on regional and state-levels. WLAA land units were more prevalent on the West and East Coasts than in the Mid-West or Southern regions. Due to prejudice and sexism against women in agricultural work, many Mid-Western and Southern farmers and communities rejected help from the WLAA. However, by 1918, 15,000 women across twenty states had participated in agricultural training and education programs. California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia offered training for agricultural work. In Bedford, New York, Mrs. Charles W. Short Jr. established the Women's Agricultural Camp to offer farm training and employment beginning on June 4, 1918. The Camp provided female farm labor to not only farmers, but to estates, home, and public gardens. A uniform of brimmed hats, gloves, men's overalls, and a blue work shirt was provided and required. Bedford's Women's Agricultural Camp is credited with proving the efficiency of the unit system.

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