How an Army of Suffragettes Helped Save America From Starvation

While legions of men toiled in WWI, 15,000 women set out to solve the food crisis. But that wasn't their only goal.

Illustration by Yunuen Bonaparte | Edited by Michael Stahl

In May 1918, 10 teenage girls sat in Amy C. Ransome’s three-story brownstone near Meridian Hill Park in Washington, D.C., listening to her describe what their summer’s work would be like. Ransome appeared younger than her 45 years; she loved being around young people, which might have kept her looking so fresh. Two of the girls in the room, Susan and Janet, were her daughters, and the others came from similarly upper-middle class families.

All the girls technically should have been in school, but they’d been drawn to a cause larger than themselves. One of the them, Dorothy Gilbertson, had seen a little white sign, like those in many store windows across the city, with black block letters reading: “Recruits wanted, for the Women’s Land Army of America. Chance to do your bit by working on a farm.” The sign whispered to Dorothy, Don’t you realize that the men are at war? How can America have farms without farmers? Remember America’…