The Postwar Period

By the fall of 1918, the federal government had decided to bring the Woman’s Land Army of America under its domain. In this arrangement the WLAA would remain a separate organization but would be affiliated with the United States Employment Service. State-level WLAA committees would still be responsible for managing and equipping the units but the federal government would take over recruiting and assigning the women to a worksite as well as setting employment and housing policies. While the WLAA would receive some federal funding, it would have to continue fundraising and soliciting donations to cover most of its expenses. As WLAA members restructured the organization and negotiated with the government to formalize the alliance, officials made preparations for the following year’s harvest, including planning the route for a recruitment and publicity tour, establishing a WLAA newspaper called The Farmerette to share news and connect the farmerettes, and finding suitable locations for training programs.

The armistice in November of 1918 brought elation to the general public but uncertainty to the WLAA. While some thought that the women’s job was over, members of the WLAA insisted there was still work to be done. Food shortages were still an issue and President Wilson pointed out the hunger that Europe was facing. The United States was to send food to help the region recover from war and the WLAA vowed to play its part. It faced some problems along the way, however. With the war’s end, patriotism would no longer be a driving force so the WLAA had to reorient its purpose, focusing instead on reconstruction. The organization also had to be careful not to compete for jobs with soldiers returning home. Additionally, attempts within the federal government to dismantle the U.S Employment Service due to allegations of favoring unionized labor meant that the WLAA would not receive the federal funding that it had expected. When spring of 1919 came around, the organization had to tighten its belt. Plans for training camps and courses fizzled. A less-expensive version of the uniform was produced and advertisements from the previous year were reused. Nonetheless, thousands of women registered to be farmerettes, although state responses varied. Some eliminated their units entirely while other states formed additional ones.

In places like California and New York where there was a demand for farmerettes, the WLAA started the summer season strong. Units were sent out to pick cherries and grapes. By the middle of the summer, however, lack of funding began to take its toll. While there were many willing recruits and eager farmers willing to hire them, the WLAA struggled to cover the expenses of organizing, housing, and equipping the units. Public enthusiasm for the organization waned with the end of the war and far fewer donations came in. Wealthy women were no longer interested in supporting women’s work and suffragettes returned to fighting for the right to vote. The WLAA still held its National Board meetings in July and August but the organization was falling apart. In late August the federal government sent letters to the president of the WLAA thanking her for the women’s service and severing ties with the organization. In September, farmerettes were still working in numerous states including New York, Pennslyvania, North Carolina, and New Jersey but various branches began shutting down. By the end of September 1919, the WLAA dissolved itself. While the Woman’s Land Army in Great Britain, held closing ceremonies and awarded farmerettes for their work, the WLAA closed quietly with few in attendance. Efforts to revive the organization were largely unsuccessful but the image of the farmerette remained popular with the public. In 1919 and 1920, several movies and musicals starred a farmerette as the main character.