The Connecticut Division

The WLAA committee in Connecticut consisted of a total of 5 women, led by Grace Knight Schenck as the Chairman of the WLAA and Corinne Robinson Alsop as the Chairman of the Food Production Committee of the Woman’s Committee in the State Council of Defense. Both Schenck and Alsop lived on farms, so they had some agricultural know-how and belonged to local farming organizations such as the Farm Bureau. All of the women were volunteers and were not paid for their work.

Unlike in other states, Connecticut government officials were enthusiastic about the formation of a branch of the WLAA, but it was unclear if the same could be said of the farmers in the state. To find out, the WLAA sent out a survey to 500 farmers asking if they would hire women. 50% replied that they would do so “if necessary,” which the committee took as a good sign. The women did not want to take any chances, however, and started to publicize the WLAA before the farming season was in full swing by using their local connections. They worked with the Farm Bureau and sent speakers to local agricultural meetings. They advertised in newspapers, newsletters from women’s organizations, and the Connecticut Bulletin, a newspaper published by the Council of Defense. They also enlisted the help of Middletown farmer Samuel Russell to sing the praises of the farmerettes to his fellow farmers. Russell had hired a WLAA unit to work on his farm and wrote a letter to the organization commending the work of the women. The letter was later printed in the local Hartford Courant newspaper.

The publicity worked and the committee was inundated with requests from potential recruits and farmers looking to hire laborers. Connecticut especially suffered from a labor shortage because farmhands left to work in the arms factories. Farmers were eager to replace that labor and hire the WLAA. Schenck also successfully used local churches to find women willing to be chaperones for the units, which entailed running the house or camp where the farmerettes lived. In Connecticut, 270 women joined the WLAA to work as farm laborers. To enroll, they either signed up at one of the recruitment centers in Hartford, New Haven, Greenwich, Meriden, or Stamford or they mailed an enrollment card to Schenck and Alsop. With all of the eligible recruits, the WLAA established 10 units of farmerettes in Connecticut in New Milford, Washington, Litchfield, New Canaan, Greenwich, Ridgefield, Wilton, Middletown, Old Mystic, and Pomfret.

The demographics of the recruits in Connecticut were no exception to the national trend. The vast majority were middle or upper class college women and teachers. The rest were working professionals, such as secretaries, and a variety of other occupations. Recruits underwent a physical exam by a WLAA affiliated doctor to determine their ability to do farmwork for 8 hours a day. The exams were free and the doctors did not charge the WLAA for this service. Once a recruit was accepted, she received an enlistment card along with a letter providing her assignment location and a list of items to bring, including sheets, towels, a lunch box, and the official Connecticut WLAA uniform, which was a blouse and blue overalls with the Connecticut WLAA logo. Women were advised not to bring any valuables and had to arrange their own transportation to their assignments. Recruits had the option of attending a 5-day course at the Connecticut Agricultural College in Storrs to receive agricultural training but there was also a preliminary 2-week training period once the women were onsite. In an attempt to avoid problems faced in other states, the Connecticut branch of the WLAA guaranteed transportation for the farmerettes to and from work.