#farmerettes

[fieriframes]

[Farmerettes.]

[yesterdaysprint]

A Women's Land Army Farmerette, 1918

[chemung-valley-curator]

Land Girls and Farmerettes By Rachel Dworkin, Archivist

When Mrs. Louise T. Roberts of the New York State Food Commission proposed it in the spring of 1918, people were skeptical. College girls working on local farms? That’s crazy talk. There was no way they could work as well as men. Luckily for area farms, the skeptics were wrong.

Following America’s entry into World War I in April 1917, there were massive labor shortages in all fields. The civilian group, the Woman’s Land Army of America (WLAA) proposed to replace the missing men with college girls, school teachers, and other women with seasonal jobs or ones which allowed for summer vacations. The idea was modeled after the British Woman’s Land Army. The state branches of the WLAA worked closely with local colleges to recruit and train young women who would be assigned to work certain farms. The women were known as farmerettes. (READ MORE)

[mhc-asc]

It’s National Farmers Day, and we’re remembering the Mount Holyoke ‘farmerettes.’ The farmerettes were students who assisted local farmers and tended the college’s farm during World War I and World War II. Students would often stay in ‘terms’ during summers to do this work.

In 1918, a student typed up a summary of a World War I era farmerette’s day of work, which included:

waking up at 5 a.m.

two hours of work before breakfast (directed by a graduate of UMass Amherst, then known as Massachusetts Agricultural College!)

‘a real farmers breakfast’

six hours of work on the college farm

activities such as hoeing, weeding, transplanting, pest control

local farm work in the afternoon: at their midday meal the town’s needs would be announced, such as ‘someone to mow the Croysdale Inn; two people to hay at Mr. Taylor’s, five people for spraying on our own grounds [...]’

taking down their hours at supper-they were paid 20 cents per hour. Even in the 1910′s that wasn’t a large amount of money, but it was enough to pay their board and to save some too.

occasional appearances at local town meetings to show their farmers’ outfits, sing college songs, and perform skits

Of their visits to town meetings, a student describes, “We like nothing better, whether it is a Fourth of July parade or a Sunday-school picnic, we go in a bunch to convert the country-side to the shocking idea of girls, in men’s clothes, farming.” This quote and the above information comes from the document A Farmerette's Day, written by Charlotte E. Wilder (Class of 1919).

Farmerettes leaving a barn :: Mount Holyoke Archives and Special Collections Compass Digital Collections :: circa 1942

Farmerettes delivering milk  :: Mount Holyoke Archives and Special Collections Compass Digital Collections :: circa 1917-1918 

[mhc-asc]

Farmerette trio managing post and chicken wire :: Mount Holyoke Archives and Special Collections Digital Images :: circa 1942

[ruralfictionmagazine]

"When The Farmerettes Met The Clanging Pistons"  Slice of Life by John RC Potter

Every family has a history filled with stories, recollections, and memories. Over time, these reminisces take on a life of their own, but a note of caution: they will only remain alive as long as someone in the family remembers and shares. Over the course of decades, leaves begin to fall from every family tree, and eventually, only bare branches remain. My parents passed away over 25 years ago,…

"When The Farmerettes Met The Clanging Pistons"  Slice of Life by John RC Potter

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Farmerettes Are Victimized By Maid,” Toronto Globe. September 5, 1919. Page 05. --- She ‘Borrowed’ Gold Watch, Money and Suitcase to go to ‘Ex.’ --- (Special Despatch to The Globe.) St. Catharines, Sept. 4. - The police have a warrant out for a young woman who acted as housemaid for a party of farmerettes at Jordan. The girls had been missing small sums of money from time to time. The housemaid said she wanted to visit the Toronto Exhibition, and in order to properly enjoy herself, she borrowed a gold wrist watch from one farmerette, and $10 from another, and a suit case from a third. She was to come back next day, but she did not and hasn’t come since, and when the fair farmerettes took an inventory of their effects, a lot of other things were missing, including twenty-three dollars belonging to one girl and three dollars of another. Matron Ethel Tompkins got out a warrant for the housemaid, whose name the police have.

[jessicav08]

Y’all really don’t understand how much I love my girls 😭😍💙 #yesterdaysfun . . . . . . . . . . . . #family #mygirls #momlife #momof3 #kids #instagram_kids #weekend #mom #trampoline #unicorn #outdoors #play #christmas #breakfastwithsanta #farmersville #texas #farmerettes #fundraiser #braids #chocolate #fondue #marshmallows #coloring #fun #love #parenting #birthdayparty #happysunday #vscogram (at Farmersville High School)