Students Pick Cotton to Aid in Labor Shortage | History of SC Slide Collection

The enlistment of men into the armed forces caused a labor shortage in industry and agriculture, which were both rapidly expanding production to meet wartime needs. For the first time, many women entered the industrial workforce, and efforts of the Office of War Information to recruit them into these jobs made the character "Rosie the Riveter" famous. In South Carolina, the most pressing need was for help to harvest the crops. Students at Wofford College were excused from classes to pick the cotton crop in Spartanburg County in 1942. Three hundred students picked 15,000 pounds of cotton in one day.

Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.

More in this Series

History of SC Slide Collection / C. An Illustrated History, 1550-1988 | History of SC Slide Collection / M. World War II