The Woman’s Land Army sewed the seeds for social change
By Produced by Eight Forty-Eight
The Woman’s Land Army sewed the seeds for social change
By Produced by Eight Forty-Eight
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During World War I, as American Soldiers shipped off to fight, a labor and food shortage required radical action. The country needed farmers. But farms were generally run by men, and they - like the nation’s food - were in scarce supply. Progressive women responded by forming the Woman’s Land Army.
Women from all walks of life went back to the land they and trained others across the nation to do the same. This little known history is the subject of the book “Fruits of Victory: The Woman’s Land Army in the Great War.”
Author Elaine Weiss explained how the so-called farmerette movement actually preceded and helped enable other calls for equal rights.
Music Button: Leo Kotke, “Wheels”, from the CD Chewing Pine, (One Way Records)