Kind (Self) Regards: The Women's Land Army

I recently attended the Domestic Violence Crisis Center's Spring fundraiser luncheon where Gail Collins, New York Times columnist and author of "When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present", gave an inspiring presentation about women's meteoric rise in status in the post-World War II era, continuing over the last fifty years into these modern times.

Her presentation inspired me to think of the women who came before me. But just as I have no memory of most of my life, I have no family history. I knew my maternal grandmother for a very brief time; and my paternal grandparents for much longer. But once you go back further than that, nothing. How can a family history just disappear like that?

But memories of my paternal grandmother will never disappear.


To me she was, and still is, a woman who made her mark on the world at a time when woman weren't supposed to make marks on anything other than the kitchen stove. I have the photographs that tell the interesting stories, and memories of her much later in life happily being the eccentric we thought she was.

She picked her own mushrooms for dinner -- which we always thought would one day kill us all. She put fabric together in odd ways to make quilts. She painted -- on everything from canvas (creating a "normal" painting") to fabric (to hide a worn or torn spot). My grandmother would have been born in the late 1800s. I'm not sure when she married, but I have seen the love letters sent to her by my grandfather who was fighting in World War 1.

But what was more interesting was that my grandmother was doing her own thing to contribute to the war effort. She donned a pair of PANTS (!!), and traveled far from her New York City home to a Bedford Village, New York, farm where she worked as a "farmerette."

If you Google “farmerette,” you’ll find that: From 1917 to 1920 the Woman’s Land Army brought thousands of workers into rural America to take over the farm work after men were called to wartime service. These women wore military-style uniforms, lived in communal camps, and did what was considered “men's work”…plowing fields, driving tractors, planting, harvesting, and hauling lumber. The Land Army insisted its farmerettes be paid wages equal to male farm laborers and be protected by an eight-hour workday. These farmerettes were shocking at first and encountered skeptical farmers’ scorn, but as they proved themselves willing and capable, farmers began to rely upon the women workers and became their loudest champions.

…the Woman’s Land Army…pushed into new, uncharted territory and ventured into areas considered off-limits. More than any other women’s war work group of the time, the Land Army took pleasure in breaking the rules. It challenged conventional thinking on what was “proper” work for women to do, their role in wartime, how they should be paid, and how they should dress.

And really, what more is there to say? I love the thought of a Woman’s Land Army! And I would have liked to have known her then because I can imagine the cheerful energy and creativity she would have brought to that time in her life. Even now, I think what she did was amazing – and I have to wonder if it was that spirit – someone imbued in our DNA – that helped lead my sister and me down the independent paths we took in our lives.

Kind (Self) Regards,

Vicki



Vicki Wray lives in North Stamford, and until recently spent most of her waking hours in New York City as a corporate communications executive. Working for companies like Pfizer, Revlon and AOL Time Warner has allowed her to meet wonderful colleagues and a slew of interesting personalities including the president of the United States, supermodels and star athletes, famous artists and a Justice of the Supreme Court. She is a natural observer, type A personality, and a life-long "spa junkie". Vicki firmly believes in the health benefits of being kind to oneself; taking a moment to breath, relax and finding simple joy in our every day existence.

Her column, Kind (self) Regards, will be a regular feature of the Aetheria Spa blog. If you enjoy her point of view, or would like to share your ideas, please contact her at vicki@aetheriaspa.com.