{"id":8755,"date":"2026-03-06T16:46:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T22:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/?p=8755"},"modified":"2026-03-09T09:16:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:16:52","slug":"using-the-idnc-womens-labor-wartime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/hpnl\/blog\/using-the-idnc-womens-labor-wartime\/","title":{"rendered":"Using the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections: Women\u2019s Labor in Wartime and the Women’s Land Army of America"},"content":{"rendered":"

March is Women\u2019s History Month and to celebrate, this month\u2019s HPNL blog post explores an aspect of women\u2019s history through the use of digitized newspapers.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Illinois is a state rich with labor history, I was originally going to focus this post on women in Illinois labor movements and their roles in pioneering and supporting the organization of, and participation in, labor strikes in Illinois. Women\u2019s roles in labor rights, union organization, and reform are well known in this state, and figures such as Jane Addams and \u201cMother\u201d Mary Jones are sufficiently represented in historical newspapers. Alongside these figures, I wanted to consider the many unnamed women, such as those who fought for rights during the 1910 Chicago Garment Strike, as there are many articles about them, but then my interests turned elsewhere…<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Using the <\/span><\/i>Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections,<\/span><\/i><\/a> this blog post highlights how women\u2019s labor evolved during the first and second world wars.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s labor in wartime<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

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“Government Bulletin Shows War Opportunities for Women,” Daily Illini, May 10, 1918, p.5 [link<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Despite coming off the heels of decades of labor conflict and milestones\u2014in part due to the visible and invisible labor of women, including working class and immigrant women and those organizing in union auxiliary chapters\u2014in the era of the World Wars, many middle-class women were still working in the domestic sphere.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the onset of war forced men overseas or into different positions. Women were employed to fill these absences, and at the same time, fill an increased demand for the production of certain goods. These realities posed a problem for American production, and, throughout the country, women were encouraged to work in traditionally male-dominated industries such as manufacturing and agriculture. Wartime also saw an emergence of new needs, and in response, women labored in ammunitions factories and built war equipment like ships, planes, and tanks, among other work.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This was not an American phenomenon, of course, as women throughout Europe were filling empty factory roles while men left to<\/span> serve in the war. Many American newspapers reported on the status of British, French, and German female laborers in agriculture and factory work, such as munitions factories, as early as 1914.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In America, over 1 million women worked in war industries during WWI, and over 6 million worked in war industries during WWII. <\/p>\n

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The Woman\u2019s Land Army of America<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

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Daily Illini, March 15, 1918, p.4 [link<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>With many farm workers serving at the frontlines or working in defensive industries, such as munitions factories, many American women entered the Woman\u2019s Land Army of America (WLAA) to continue the production of food in America and to earn farmhand experience and a decent wage. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Woman\u2019s Land Army (WLA) was a civilian organization founded in Britain in 1917. By December 1917, the Woman\u2019s Landy Army of America (WLAA), modeled after the WLA, was formed in New York. American colleges and universities promoted the WLAA to female students, who, once enlisted, underwent 2-3 weeks training before living and working on a farm for the summer or after graduation. The WLAA primarily consisted of middle- and upper-class women, and these volunteers were called \u201cfarmerettes.\u201d By 1918, the WLAA spread to over 30 states and the District of Columbia, each with their own state divisions. Between 15,000 and 20,000 women enlisted in the WLAA nationwide.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After WWI, the WLAA momentum slowed but continued to fill seasonal labor shortages on farms, according to an article in the <\/span><\/span>Cairo Bulletin published March 26, 1919<\/span><\/span><\/a>, particularly in fourteen states (Oregon, California, New Mexico, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, D.C., New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and New Hampshire). In Illinois, courses continued as a means of educating more women in the agricultural and domestic sciences industries:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Woman\u2019s Land Army of America resurfaced during WWII under the United States Crop Corps, a program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Between 1943 and 1945, an estimated 1.5 million women enlisted in the program. These women milked cows, grew crops, canned vegetables, drove tractors, picked fruit, and trucked produce, ensuring that the American food system continued to operate through the war.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Left: Daily Illini, May 18, 1944, p.3 [link<\/a>]; Right: Daily Illini, May 25, 1944, p.2 [link<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Cairo Bulletin, December 30, 1918, p.4 [link<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Read more<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n