The Women Who Saved the Harvest — Autumn 1942
New for October 2026
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19m
By the autumn of 1942, American farmers faced a growing problem. Crops were ready to harvest, but thousands of experienced farmworkers had left for military service or better-paying jobs in wartime industries. With food needed at home and overseas, who would bring in the harvest?
Women were part of the answer.
Some were farm wives and daughters taking on greater responsibilities, while others left their everyday routines to work in fields and orchards for the first time.
In this episode of On the Victory Homefront, we meet women whose experiences were recorded in photographs, newspaper accounts, and personal letters. From long days picking crops to broken machinery and learning to drive tractors, their stories offer a glimpse into the realities of America's first wartime harvest.
We'll also explore how communities recruited emergency farmworkers, the challenges they faced, and how the experiences of 1942 helped lay the groundwork for the Women's Land Army of 1943.
Their efforts didn't solve every labor shortage or save every crop, but they made a difference when American agriculture needed every available hand.
Remember, victory is in the everyday.
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