Herbert Hoover realized early in the 20th century that food was as important as bullets to win a war. After witnessing Belgians starve under the harsh treatment of Germany before World War I, he determined to never let that happen in America. So, when the men marched off to war in both World War I and again in World War II, the women marched out to the fields.
Everyone knows Rosie the Riveter, the iconic symbol of the American women who produced munitions and war supplies in factories during World War II. Few people know that the Woman's Land Army of America is the rural equivalent of Rosie, producing enough food to feed the troops and project an image of abundance and strength abroad.
Today, you meet two women who worked on Connecticut farms for the Woman's Land Army as young teenagers during World War II.
GUESTS:
- Walter Woodward - Associate professor of history at UConn and the Connecticut State Historian
- Alice Corcoran - Former participant in the Connecticut Women’s Land Army during World War II
- Elaine Lowengard - Former participant in the Connecticut Women’s Land Army during World War II
- Cecilia Gowdy-Wygant - History and Women’s Studies faculty at Front Range Community College and Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is the author of Cultivating Victory: The Women’s Land Army and the Victory Garden Movement
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Colin McEnroe and Jonathan McNicol contributed to this show.
