Herbert Andrew Paus, “The Woman’s Land Army of America,” c. 1918

Like “If I Fail He Dies,” this poster tried to persuade American women to play an active role in the nation’s war effort. Whereas the first poster targeted a select professional demographic—trained nurses—this poster presents its appeal more widely, to all American women. Its purpose was to convince female audiences to join the Woman’s Land Army of America, a voluntary organization established in 1917 to mobilize and train American women to work the nation’s farms. The U.S. Food Administration’s Herbert Hoover and other wartime policymakers recognized agriculture as a crucial issue. Their central concern was how American farmers could produce the food necessary to feed U.S. and Allied soldiers and European civilians, particularly as American men left their farms to enter the military or war industries. Fortunately for Hoover, thousands of American women volunteered to replace them. Some wanted to play their part in the war effort, while others were motivated by the chance to prove themselves as equals to men and win public support for suffrage and equal rights. Though idealistic, many of these women were not trained in the skills of farming. The Woman’s Land Army of America was therefore organized to provide a crash course in agriculture. By war’s end, it had trained thousands of American “farmettes.”

Herbert Andrew Paus, “The Woman’s Land Army of America,” c. 1918
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, WWI Posters [Reproduction Number LC-DIG-ppmsca-13492].

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