The Woman’s Land Army of America was created in an effort to address a farm worker shortage during the First World War (“The Woman’s Land Army of America in World War I,” Digital History 511: Theory & Practice). Formally chartered in December 1917 (Weiss, Fruits of Victory, 67-68), the Land Army received a Connecticut chapter soon after (Fruits of Victory, 139-140). Eventually thirteen units of female volunteer “farmerettes” were created:Greenwich, Litchfield, Middletown, New Canaan, New Milford, Stonington, Washington, Wilton, Old Mystic, Pomfret, and three units on Long Island staffed by Connecticut College (Fruits of Victory, 140).
New Milford’s unit was somewhat controversial, as it focused on the tobacco harvest (“The New Milford Unit: The Woman’s Land Army of America in World War I,” Digital History 511: Theory & Practice)
Bibliography:
“The Woman’s Land Army of America in World War I,” Digital History 511: Theory & Practice (https://library.ccsu.edu/dighistFall16/exhibits/show/the-woman-s-land-army-of-ameri: accessed 1 July 2024)
“The New Milford Unit: The Woman’s Land Army of America in World War I,” Digital History 511: Theory & Practice (https://library.ccsu.edu/dighistFall16/exhibits/show/the-woman-s-land-army-of-ameri/the-new-milford-unit: accessed 1 July 2024)
Weiss, Elaine F. Fruits of Victory: The Woman’s Land Army of America in the Great War. Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2008.
Connecticut Roots by Charter Oak Genealogy 