Exhibition Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I

Chart from Woman's Land Army, ca. 1918. Emma George Papers, Manuscript Division Library of Congress (061.00.00)

*Get Behind the Girl He Left Behind Him / Join the Land Army*. New York: The American Lithographic Company, ca. 1918. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (061.00.00)

Farmerettes

Known as "farmerettes," WLA workers were on the job in thirty-three states by summer 1918. Success varied from state to state. WLA units in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Illinois were among the most productive. In California, WLA leaders secured labor contracts guaranteeing wages, hours, and working conditions that agricultural workers would rarely have again. Between its establishment in late 1917 and its demise in 1919, WLA employed roughly 15,000 to 20,000 women.