{"id":12,"date":"2025-01-23T20:21:23","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T20:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2025-02-11T19:21:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T19:21:32","slug":"world-war-two-the-farmers-aid-committee","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/world-war-two-the-farmers-aid-committee\/","title":{"rendered":"World War Two: The Farmer’s Aid Committee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fighting the War on the Homefront<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Students Driving to Work, 1942<\/sub><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When America joined the War in 1941, many of the young men who worked on South Hadley\u2019s farms left their homes to join the war effort. In their absence, students from Mount Holyoke College volunteered to help local farmers continue their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just months before America became officially involved in the War, Mary Binder (x-Class of 1944) formed the Farmer\u2019s Aid Committee. The Committee was sponsored by the Service Commission of the Fellowship of Faiths at Mount Holyoke and supervised by Professor George Abbe. Through this committee, nearly fifty students were able to volunteer on local farms and provide much needed support for South Hadley farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of a National Movement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Student Plows a Field at a Local Farm, 1942<\/sub><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although many doubted that college women would be able to sustain heavy farm labor, the students soon proved that they were equal to the task. The students from Mount Holyoke were not alone in their efforts to aid local farmers. In 1943, the Women\u2019s Land Army began to recruit women to help fill the farm labor shortage. In addition to the WLA, individual farmer\u2019s aid associations began to appear across the country. One of these organizations, the Volunteer Land Corps, recruited Mount Holyoke women to continue their volunteer work during the summer months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe girls have proved they were serious in their proffers and they\u2019ve proved the modern college girl isn\u2019t afraid of work.\u201d<\/em> -The Boston, Mass. Post, November 24, 1941<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working Alongside South Hadley Farmers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Student Befriends a Cow, 1942<\/sub><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The farmers who received assistance from the Farmer\u2019s Aid Committee taught students basic farm skills. Alongside farmers and their families, Mount Holyoke students harvested potatoes, husked corn, picked apples, plucked turkeys, painted houses, and gathered firewood. One student traveled to a farm twice a day to milk cows for a woman who was sick. In the spring, students helped farmers prepare and plant the fields. They also performed household chores, allowing farmer\u2019s wives to provide skilled labor in the fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, the students were not paid for their work however they were later given small sums which they redirected towards the purchase of improved farm equipment or lent out to farmers who needed cash rather than help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn many instances farmers have noted that the college girls needed to be told only once how to do a thing, while boys and youths had to be constantly watched and corrected.\u201d<\/em> – Springfield Republican, May 10, 1942<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gas Shortages and the End of the Farmer\u2019s Aid Committee<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nancy Stauffer ’45 Barbara Waugh ’45 Charlotte Mansfield ’45 and Norma J. Rioux ’45 Bike to Work, 1942<\/sub><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Farmer\u2019s Aid Committee was most active during the spring, summer, and fall of 1942. In the spring of 1943, gas shortages prevented students from traveling to farms that were not within walking distance of the college. Although students could no longer assist local farmers, they redirected their energies towards a new project: the Mount Holyoke College Farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fighting the War on the Homefront When America joined the War in 1941, many of the young men who worked on South Hadley\u2019s farms left their homes to join the war effort. In their absence, students from Mount Holyoke College volunteered to help local farmers continue their work. Just months before America became officially involved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2199,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/page-nosidebar.php","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions\/126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/helpingonthehomefront\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}