The Dummer Farmerettes

      While many of us realize that the WWI years brought both patriotism and protest to the nation, the details of these actions are often lost to history.  Such is the case with the World War I "farmerettes."  These young women displayed their patriotism through farm work, raising the much needed crops during a time when many men were off fighting in Europe.  The farmerettes were chosen for their physical strength as well as their strength of character.  Just like their male counterparts in the US Army, these young women viewed their work as an act of patriotism during wartime. 
      Even less well known than the existence of these female war workers was the fact that a group of them worked right on the Dummer Academy campus.  Dummer Academy teamed up with Radcliffe College to organize students to raise food that could be used by both schools.  The Radcliffe women arrived in the summer to prepare the land, plant the crops, and care for the plants as they grew.  When the women left in late summer, the Dummer men arrived to harvest the crops and divide the results between the schools. 
      I recently stumbled upon a newspaper article about these efforts during the tenure of Headmaster Charles Ingham.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.