History Bytes: Rhode Island’s Woman’s Land Army

July 10, 2018

The Woman’s Land Army of America (WLAA) was a civilian organization created during WWI for the purpose of avoiding a food production crisis by supplying agricultural workers to replace the men serving in the military. The WLAA was modeled after the Woman’s Land Army in Great Britain. The American organization would later become known as simply the Woman’s Land Army (WLA). The WLA operated from 1917 – 1919 in 42 states and employed over 20,000 women, referred to as “farmerettes,” who received equal pay to male laborers. The organization did not receive government funding, rather relied on the assistance of non-profits, like the Woman’s National Farm and Garden Association (WNF&GA) and colleges and universities. In addition to working on farms, farmerettes also worked the land in public gardens and on private estates in the effort to improve food production. The WLA was more prevalent on the west coast, however by 1918 several east coast states had participated in agricultural training programs and were establishing WLA units. This included two in Hope, Rhode Island under Miss Alice Howland (Bulletin of Woman’s National Farm and Garden Association, vol 6 June 1918 no. 1). Miss Julie Mauran, a vice president of the WNF&GA also participated in the WLA, organizing meetings and growing food on her farm Lippitt Hill in Hope (Bulletin of Woman’s National Farm and Garden Association, vol 7 January 1919 no. 7). On Aquidneck Island, Mr. Ernst Voight employed 8 farmerettes to work on his farm Maplehurst, located off West Main Road in Middletown (Newport Mercury, July 12, 1918).

Image: “Farmerettes (Voight’s),” July 10, 1918, from Newport Daily News photograph collection, NHS.