Last updated: November 16, 2023
Article
Victory Gardens on the World War II Home Front
Left image
“Plant a Victory Garden : Our Food Is Fighting : A Garden Will Make Your Rations Go Further.” Poster, Office of War Information, 1943.
Credit: Collection of Northwestern University Libraries, Government & Geographic Information Collection (ark:/81985/n2d50hx9g).
Right image
“War Gardens for Victory: Grow Vitamins At Your Kitchen Door.” Poster, National Garden Bureau, c. 1943.
Credit: Collection of Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96507418/).
Collection of Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017696705/).
Victory Gardens
on the World War II Home Front
Faced with having to feed an expanded military and a hungry population, the US government reintroduced the idea of War Gardens from World War I. They rebranded them as Victory Gardens for World War II, and spelled out their purpose:
The Victory Garden Program will:
1. Increase the production and consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits by more and better home, school, and community gardens, to the end that we become a stronger and healthier Nation.
2. Encourage the proper storage and preservation of the surplus from such gardens for distribution and use by families producing it, local school lunches, welfare agencies, and for local emergency food needs.
3. Enable families and institutions to save on the cost of vegetables and apply this saving to other necessary foods which must be purchased.
4. Provide through the medium of community gardens, an opportunity for gardening by urban dwellers and others who lack suitable home garden facilities.
5. Maintain and improve the morale and spiritual well-being of the individual, family, and Nation. The beautification of the home and community by gardening provides healthful physical exercise, recreation, definite release from war stress and strain.
-- (Garden for Victory: Guide for Planning the Local Victory Garden Program 1942)[1]
Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
Victory Gardens freed up agricultural produce, packaging, and transportation resources for the war effort, and helped offset shortages of agricultural workers. Victory Gardeners increased their health through physical activity, and their families enjoyed better nutrition. The program also fostered morale, patriotism, and a sense of community among participants.
World War II Victory Gardens were grown on farms, in backyards, on city rooftops, in window-boxes, on public lands, and in vacant lots.[2]
Collection of the Library of Congress (https://lccn.loc.gov/2017861302).
Attendees at a National Garden Conference held in Washington, DC in December 1941 set the groundwork of the World War II Victory Garden program (War Gardens was a similar program from World War I). Hosted by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Director of the Office of Defense, Health and Welfare Services, youth groups, farmers, garden clubs, seed companies, the farm press, and others were in attendance.[3]
In 1939, more than $200 million worth of vegetables were grown in 4.8 million farm home gardens.[4] In 1944, 18.5 million gardeners took part in Victory Gardens, supplying 40% of the nation’s fresh vegetables.[5] Well-known Victory Gardeners -- including Mickey Mouse, Batman, Superman, Vice President Henry Wallace, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt -- encouraged people to participate.[6]
By the time the war was over in 1945, American Victory Gardeners had grown between 8 and 10 million tons of food.[7]
Left image
“Plan for a Very Small Garden (30 x0 50 feet).” From Boswell, Victor (1943) Victory Gardens. United States Department of Agriculture.
Credit: Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
Right image
“New York City, New York. Children’s school Victory Gardens on First Avenue between Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Streets.” Photo by Edward Meyer, Office of War Information, June 1944.
Credit: Collection of the Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/resource/fsa.8d35490/).
Collection of the Library of Congress (https://lccn.loc.gov/2017878069).
The program discouraged people from growing private Victory gardens in large towns and cities. The general lack of space, poor soils, and poor light meant a poor return on war-scarce materials including pesticides, tools, and fertilizers.
Organizers instead recommended communal gardening in school grounds, parks, vacant lots, and elsewhere. Companies and agencies including the National Institutes of Health and managers of the Manhattan Project also provided land for employee Victory Gardens.[8]
People who were unable to garden were encouraged to help preserve produce for others, or to distribute flowers to hospitals and shut ins.[9] In Utah, a group of residents without access to a garden purchased 1,000 pounds of beans and canned them for their own use in August 1943.[10]
Many Americans had gardens before World War II. But many were new to the practice: “About 18 million families this year will meet the situation by growing Victory Gardens. Many of these people will be growing a garden for the first time – and they need help.”[11]
Federal and state agencies, local governments, private citizens, and civic groups all published guides and held classes to ensure success. They advised on what to grow, how to grow it, gave sample garden plans, sample yields, and information on weed and pest control.
For community organizers, resources provided best practices on managing a Victory Garden program, including the kinds of work needed, decision points, and record keeping.[12]
Victory Gardens introduced people to gardening and to unfamiliar crops like Swiss chard and kohlrabi.[13] Some also raised chickens in their gardens, providing eggs, meat, and also insect control. Community Victory Gardens provided more than a plot of dirt: “War news was shared. Recipes and remedies were shared. And gossip too.”[14] Many who grew up with Victory Gardens continued gardening throughout their lives and introduced it to their children.[15]
Growing Victory Gardens was only half the battle. Gardeners also had to preserve their bounty for use throughout the year. There were many resources to help people preserve their crops, ranging from information to canning classes.
Left image
“Guiding hand behind many West coast Victory Gardens, Prof. Harry Nelson still finds time to give his 10-year-old daughter and her Girl Scout friends some pointers in transplanting vegetables.” Photo by Ann Rosener, Office of War Information, March 1943.
Credit: Collection of the Library of Congress (https://lccn.loc.gov/2017696713).
Right image
“Victory Gardening in DC. Some of the Victory Gardeners also have a Victory Flock.” Photo by Edwin Rosskam, Office of War Information, May 1943.
Credit: Collection of the Library of Congress (https://lccn.loc.gov/2017853941).
Victory Gardens in Japanese Incarceration Camps
Denson Tribune (Jerome Relocation Center, Arkansas), July 13, 1943, p. 3. Collection Library of Congress, Chronicling America.
People of Japanese descent sent to government incarceration camps also planted Victory Gardens. Photos, written resources, and archaeological evidence have identified them at Assembly Centers, War Relocation Centers, and Department of Justice Enemy Alien camps.[16]
Examples of War Relocation Centers with Victory Gardens: [17]
- Granada / Amache (Colorado)
- Heart Mountain (Wyoming)
- Jerome / Denson (Arkansas)
- Manzanar (California)
- Minidoka (Idaho)
- Poston (Arizona)
- Rohwer (Arkansas)
- Topaz / Central Utah (Utah)
- Tule Lake (California)
Collection of the National Archives and Records Administration (NAID: 537912).
Examples of Assembly Centers with Victory Gardens: [18]
- Camp Harmony / Walerga (Puyallup, Washington)
- Santa Anita (Arcadia, California)
- Tanforan (San Bruno, California)
Examples of Department of Justice Enemy Alien and Isolation Camps with Victory Gardens: [19]
- Crystal City (Texas)
- Fort Missoula (Montana)
- Kooskia (Idaho)
Before relocation, many of those incarcerated had been gardeners, nursery owners, and farmers. Some people brought seeds and plants with them. Others purchased them through mail order, or transplanted them from camp to camp when they were relocated.[20] Victory Gardens were most often located in residential areas of the incarceration camps, away from the production farms (where prisoners grew food for the relocation centers). Individuals and school and community groups started and cared for the Victory Gardens -- with the approval of the camp managers. (Camp managers also grew Victory Gardens in the camps – at least at Manzanar.)[21]
Japanese and Japanese Americans planted their gardens in incarceration camps knowing they may not be there to harvest them.[22] The reasons that residents chose to grow Victory Gardens were complex. For many there was the patriotism of being American and supporting the war, despite the government forcing them into camps.
Gardening was also a way to spend time when not working and a way to improve their surroundings. Because those in the camps were under the same rationing restrictions as other Americans, Victory Gardens supplemented government-issue meals with fresh and varied produce.[23]
Left image
“Vegetable crop display, Amache Agricultural Fair, September 11 and 12” Granada War Relocation Center. Note the patriotic creation of an American flag as part of the display. Photo by Joe McClelland, War Relocation Authority, 1943.
Credit: Collection of the National Archives and Records Administration (NAID: 537321).
Right image
“One of the many small Victory Gardens seen throughout the Rohwer Center.” Rowher Relocation Center, Arkansas. Photo by Charles E. Mace, War Relocation Authority, June 1944.
Credit: Collection of the National Archives and Records Administration (NAID: 539708).
Photo by Daderot (Wikimedia)
Perhaps most importantly, gardening was a way to keep their Japanese heritage alive and foster community healing and cohesion. Incarceration camp Victory Gardeners planted traditional Japanese vegetables and ornamental plants alongside vegetables like peas, pumpkins, corn, and cucumbers. Japanese gardeners often incorporated traditional layouts and locations in their plantings. At Manzanar and Granada, this included elements of shakkei (borrowed scenery) and placing gardens at entryways.[24]
Archaeological testing at the location of a Granada War Relocation Center (Amache) Victory Garden looked at pollen, seeds, and soil chemistry. Researchers identified pollen from cultivated potatoes and Canna (an ornamental plant also used as a source of food in the tropics). They also recovered seeds from Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolius) trees.
Camp residents planted these trees in part for shade, but they are also a popular choice for bonsai.[25] Soil chemistry identified amendments added to make the desert soils productive. These included ammonium nitrate, phosphorus, potassium, crumbled eggshell and crushed abalone shell. [26]
Archaeologists identified surviving elements of the Victory Garden, including its location and construction materials.[27] Recovered artifacts included a homemade wheelbarrow wheel, planter pots made from cans, and a possible watering can.[28]
These are consistent with findings at other incarceration camps. At Santa Anita Assembly Center, there was a 50-can container garden. Photos from Manzanar also show container gardens planted in cans. At Topaz and Manzanar, people attached sticks to perforated cans to make watering tools.[29]
Victory Gardens After World War II
Most Victory Gardens disappeared after the war. People became uninterested; they wanted to distance themselves from the food hardships of the Great Depression and the War; and there was a shift to post-war processed foods. Former agricultural land also got developed in the post-war housing boom, and people moving to the new suburbs had their own private yards. They no longer needed public community gardens if they wished to continue gardening.[30]Despite these changes, community gardening has not disappeared. There are many garden plots on public and private land that offer nearby residents the chance to grow fresh food and build community. Many – including in Washington, DC and Chicago, Illinois -- trace their roots to Victory Gardens.[31] Several garden clubs also have their origins with World War II Victory Gardens. [32]
Photo by Jade Ryerson, July 2022.
There are at least two known Victory Gardens that have been in continuous use since World War II -- some 80 years after their founding. These are the Fenway Victory Gardens in Boston, Massachusetts and the Dowling Victory Garden in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[33]
Fenway Victory Gardens
Established in 1942, Fenway Victory Gardens are located in the Back Bay Fens portion of Boston’s Olmsted-designed “Emerald Necklace” of parks. After the war, the city and others wanted to develop the area. Richard Parker, one of the original gardeners, led a successful public campaign to stop the developers. The gardens are now known as the Richard D. Parker Memorial Victory Gardens. There are over 500 plots in the garden's 7.5 acres. Current crops include about 25% vegetables, with the rest planted in flowers, fruits, and herbs.[34]
Dowling Victory Garden
Dowling Victory Garden (now the Dowling Community Garden) is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A group of neighbors established it in a corner of a local school in 1943. After the war, it transitioned into a community garden. Public pressure by the gardeners and others stopped threatened development in 1996 and 2003. There are currently 190 plots in about 3 acres, where gardeners plant mostly vegetables with some fruits and herbs.[35]
Courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Special Mention: Rachel Carson and DDT
Protecting plants from insects, weeds, and disease was important to a successful Victory Garden. One of the main insecticides recommended was pyrethrum, a common bug killer that became scarce during the war. Pyrethrum was made from a flower in the aster family, and was imported mostly from Japan.[36]
Other pesticides used were lead arsenate, nicotine sulfate, and something called Bordeaux powder, which was a mixture of copper sulfate and lime.[37] An alternative to pyrethrum used by the military was DDT. They used it for pest control in supplies, to treat civilians (in their homes and in refugee camps) for typhus, and to prevent malaria in the tropics. In 1943, it was being manufactured in the US at a rate of as much as 3 million pounds a month.[38]
The benefits for post-war civilian use in increasing agricultural production and reducing insect-borne disease around the world were widely heralded.[39] DDT was released for civilian use just three days before the end of World War II. The long-term effects and dangers of DDT to the world’s ecosystems were documented by Rachel Carson in her book, Silent Spring. It spurred the modern environmental movement, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, and resulted in the banning of DDT use.[40]
Left image
“Shoot To Kill! Protect Your Victory Garden.” Poster, US Department of Agriculture, 1943.
Credit: Color illustration of a white woman in blue overalls and a hat with a garden trowel in her back pocket. She is spraying insecticide on a large bug perched on a ripe red tomato.
Right image
Cover of the Mills Seeds catalog for 1943. They are offering seeds for a Victory Vegetable Garden for 10 cents (about $1.70 in 2023 dollars). F.B. Mills, Rose Hill, NY, 1943.
Credit: Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
This article was written by Megan E. Springate, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, for the NPS Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education. It was funded by the National Council on Public History’s cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.
Notes and Bibliography
[1] United States Office of Civilian Defense 1942: 3; Zebrowski 2007.
[2] Sundin 2022.
[3] United States Office of Civilian Defense 1942: 3.
[4] Boswell 1943: 3.
[5] United States Department of Agriculture 1945.
[6] Oregon Secretary of State n.d.; Smithsonian Gardens n.d.a; United States Office of War Information 1942.
[7] Smithsonian n.d.b; Sundin 2022.
[8] Boswell 1943: 5; Comer n.d.; Sundin 2022; United States Department of Agriculture 1943a:2. There were Victory Gardens at Oak Ridge, the Tennessee locale for the Manhattan Project. Oak Ridge, Tennessee is an American World War II Heritage City.
[9] United States Office of Civilian Defense 1942: 4.
[10] Embry 1995: 251.
[11] United States Department of Agriculture 1943a: 1.
[12] Boswell 1943; Civic Garden Center n.d.; Ellis 1944; Hertzog’s Seeds 1943; HV Lawrence, Inc. 1944; Putnam and Cosper 1942; Sundin 2022; United States Department of Agriculture 1943a, 1943b, 1944a, 1944b; United States Office of Civilian Defense 1942: 5-9.
[13] Winkler 2012: 38.
[14] Aschenbach 1992; Community Gardens Team 2023; Steinhauer 2020.
[15] Community Gardens Team 2023; Smithsonian n.d.a.
[16] Clark 2011; Helphand 2006: 157-158, 168, 170, 174, 176-177, 180-181, 189, 196; Library of Congress n.d.; Seattle Post-Intelligencer 1942; Tamura 2020; Walerga Wasp 1942.
[17] Goto 2016: 64; Burton 2015: 73-77. Granada War Relocation Center in Colorado was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 18, 1994, designated a National Historic Landmark on March 18, 2022, and became a National Park Unit as Amache National Historic Site on February 10, 2006. Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 1985 and designated a National Historic Landmark on September 20, 2006. Manzanar War Relocation Center in California was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 30, 1976, designated a National Historic Landmark on February 4, 1985, and became a National Park Unit as Manzanar National Historic Site on March 3, 1992. Minidoka War Relocation Center was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1979 and became a National Park Unit as Minidoka National Monument on January 17, 2001 and as Minidoka National Historic Site on May 8, 2008. The Poston Elementary School, Unit 1 at the Poston Relocation Center was designated a National Historic Landmark on October 16, 2012. Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 30, 1974. The Rohwer Relocation Center Cemetery was designated a National Historic Landmark on July 6, 1992. The Topaz War Relocation Center (also known as the Central Utah Relocation Center) in Utah was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 2, 1974 and designated a National Historic Landmark on March 29, 2007. Tule Lake War Relocation Center (later Tule Lake Segregation Center) in California was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 17, 2006; it became a National Park Unit as Tule Lake National Monument on March 12, 2019.
[18] Santa Anita Park in California was determined eligible for listing on the National Record of Historic Places on August 3, 2006.
[19] Crystal City Alien Enemy Detention Facility (more commonly known as US Family Internment Camp, Crystal City, Texas) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 1, 2014.
[20] Helphand 2006: 168; Kim 2017; United States War Relocation Authority 1944.
[21] Burton 2015: 73-77; Burton et al. 2000: Chapter 8; Kim 2017. For information on the production farms at the War Relocation Centers (which were planned to be as self-sustaining as possible), see Lillquist 2010; Moore 2022; Morehouse 2017; and Varner 2018.
[22] Helphand 2006: 157, 159.
[23] Helphand 2006: 158; Swader 2015: 105; Tamura 2020; Wyatt 2012: 36, 68.
[24] Burton 2018; Burton and Farrell 2024-2025; Daily Tulean Dispatch 1943; Helphand 2006: 159, 191-193; Tamura 2020; Tavoda 2015; Wyatt 2012: 87.
[25] Clark 2011; Swader 2015: 79; Wyatt 2012: 87. For the archaeology of gardens in Japanese American Incarceration Camps more generally, see Ozawa 2016.
[26] Swader 2015: 106.
[27] Swader 2015: 79.
[28] Swader 2015: 71, 106.
[29] Helphand 2006: 194; Swader 2015: 106.
[30] Ryerson 2023: 8-23.
[31] Aschenback 2019; Cleveland Park Community Garden n.d.; Fletcher 2023; Glover Park Community Garden Association 2018; Grossman 2020; Rock Creek Community Garden 2023. Cleveland Park Community Garden, Glover Park Community Garden, and the Rock Creek Community Garden are located within Rock Creek Park.
[32] See, for example, Hunt 2018 and Watts 2022.
[33] Several museums, schools, and other organizations have planted replica Victory Gardens as a way of teaching about the war, agriculture, the environment, and community. Some of these can be found at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC (Smithsonian Gardens n.d. Victory Garden); the Victory Garden of the Pecunies family at the Strawbery Banke Museum, Portsmouth, NH (Strawbery Banke 2023); a victory garden based on a 1943 garden book at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto, CA (Museum of American Heritage 2023); and a Victory Garden at the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk, Maine (Brick Store Museum 2016).
[34] Fenway Victory Gardens n.d.; Schons 2022. Fenway Victory Gardens are part of the Olmsted Park System in Boston, Massachusetts that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 8, 1971. Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site is located in Massachusetts.
[35] Ryerson 2023: 7-4, 7-11, 8-19, 8-24 through 8-28. A draft nomination for the listing of the Dowling Victory Garden on the National Register of Historic Places currently in review (Ryerson 2023).
[36] Davis 1971.
[37] Conis 2017.
[38] Conis 2017; Davis 1971; Sonnenberg 2015.
[39] Conis 2017.
[40] Davis 1971. Rachel Carson’s childhood home in Springdale, PA was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 22, 1976; her home in Silver Spring, Maryland where she wrote Silent Spring was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 4, 1991.
Aschenbach, Joy (1992) “Victory Gardens That Sprouted in Wartime Still Feed the Body and Soul.” Los Angeles Times, October 4, 1992, p. 70.
Boswell, Victor R. (1943) Victory Gardens. United States Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Publication No. 483. Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
Brick Store Museum (2016) “Museum Gardens.” Brick Store Museum.
Burton, Jeffery F. (2018) “Manzanar’s World War II Gardens: Excavation, Stabilization, and Restoration.” Paper presented at the North American Japanese Garden Association International Conference, Portland, Oregon, September 29-October 1, 2018.
--- (2015) Garden Management Plan: Gardens and Gardeners at Manzanar. Manzanar National Historic Site, National Park Service.
Burton, Jeffery F. and Mary Farrell (2014/2015) “Creating Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: Manzanar’s Japanese Gardens.” Journal of the North American Japanese Garden Association 2: 50-59.
Burton, Jeffery F., Mary M. Farrell, Florence B. Lord, Richard W. Lord (2000) “Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites.” Western Archeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service.
Civic Garden Center (n.d.) “Our Story.” Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati.
Clark, Bonnie J. (2011) “The Archaeology of Gardening at Amache: Summary Report – Summer 2010.” Prepared for Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.
Cleveland Park Community Garden (n.d.) “Cleveland Park Community Garden: Home Page.” Cleveland Park Community Garden.
Comer, Elizabeth Anderson (2003) “Projects: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland: Analysis and Interpretation of Aerial Imagery.” Elizabeth Anderson Comer / Archaeology.
Community Gardens Team (2023) “The Victory Garden and Community.” Smithsonian Gardens Community of Gardens.
Conis, Elena (2017) “Beyond Silent Spring: An Alternate History of DDT.” Distillations, Science History Institute, February 14, 2017.
Daily Tulean Dispatch (1943) “Reminiscing.” Tulean Daily Dispatch, August 16, 1943, p. 2. Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
Davis, Kenneth S. (1971) “The Deadly Dust: The Unhappy History of DDT.” American Heritage 22(2).
Ellis, Alva (1944) The Victory Garden Guide: Planting Date : How to Plant : Proper Care : Insects and Their Control. Self-published, April 1944.
Embry, Jessie L. (1995) “Fighting the Good Fight: The Utah Home Front during World War II.” Utah Historical Quarterly 64(3): 241-267
Fenway Victory Gardens (n.d.) “History.” Fenway Victory Gardens.
Fletcher, Carlton (2023) “Victory Gardens.” Glover Park History.
Glover Park Community Garden Association (2018) “About Glover Park Community Garden.” Glover Park Community Garden Association.
Goto, Deiko (2015) “On the Purpose and Role of Japanese Gardens in American Internment Camps.” Journal of the North American Japanese Garden Association 2: 60-70.
Grossman, Ron (2020) “Flashback: Digging In to Aid the War Effort: Victory Gardens Helped Chicagoans Fight Food Shortages, Low Morale.” Chicago Tribune, May 8, 2020.
Helphand, Kenneth I. (2006) Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime. Trinity University Press, San Antonio, TX.
Hertzog’s Seeds (1943) “How to Make a Victory Garden: Hertzog’s Seeds: Vitamins, Vitality, Victory” (catalog). Hertzog’s Seeds, Columbus, Ohio. Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
Hunt, Max (2018) “Gardening Club Continues Legacy of Service, Friendship.” Mountain Xpress (Asheville, North Carolina) April 24, 2018.
HV Lawrence (1944) “Victory Gardens on Cape Cod: Reliable Gardening, Materials, Seeds, Insecticides, Fertilizers” (catalog). HV Lawrence, Falmouth, Massachusetts. Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
Library of Congress (n.d.) “Japanese-American Internment Camp Newspapers, 1942-1946” (collection). Chronicling America, Library of Congress.
Kim, Heidi (2017) “Victory Gardens Behind Barbed Wire: Japanese Americans Recall Eating in Camp.” Off the Menu: Asian America: A Film by Grade Lee, February 13, 2017.
Lillquist, Karl (2010) “Farming the Desert: Agriculture in the World War II-Era Japanese-American Relocation Centers.” Agricultural History 84(1): 74-104.
Moore, Gary (2022) “A Raw Deal (Part 3) – Agricultural Operations at Japanese Internment Camps.” The Friday Footnote: Focusing on the History of Agricultural Education and Rural America, June 2, 2022.
Morehouse, Lisa (2017) “Farming Behind Barbed Wire: Japanese-Americans Remember WWII Incarceration.” National Public Radio: The Salt, February 19, 2017.
Museum of American Heritage (2023) “MOAH Victory Garden.” The Museum of American Heritage: Invention & Technology 1750-1950.
Oregon Secretary of State (n.d.) “Cultivating for the Cause: Victory Gardens Till New Ground.” Life on the Home Front: Oregon Responds to World War II.
Ozawa, Koji Harris (2016) “The Archaeology of Gardens in Japanese American Incarceration Camps.” Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, San Francisco State University.
Putnam, Jean Marie and Lloyd C. Cosper (1942) Gardens for Victory. Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York.
Rock Creek Community Garden (2023) “Rock Creek Community Garden: About Us.” Rock Creek Community Garden.
Ryerson, Jade (2023) “National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Dowling Victory Garden.” Draft. On file with the National Park Service Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education, Washington, DC.
Schons, Mary (2022) “Fenway Victory Gardens.” National Geographic Education, May 20, 2022.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (1942) “Japanese Americans tried hard to make life at the assembly center bearable. Here, a camp inmate tends to a garden.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, Collections of the Museum of History & Industry, Seattle, WA.
Smithsonian Gardens (n.d. a) “Gardening for the Common Good.” Cultivating America’s Gardens, Smithsonian Libraries Exhibitions.
--- (n.d. b) “Victory Garden at the National Museum of American History.” Smithsonian Institution.
Sonnenberg, Jake (2015) “Shoot to Kill: Control and Controversy in the History of DDT Science.” Stanford Journal of Public Health, May 1, 2015.
Steinhauer, Jennifer (2020) “Victory Gardens Were More About Solidarity Than Survival.” New York Times Magazine, July 15, 2020.
Strawbery Banke (2023) “World War II Victory Garden.” Strawbery Banke Museum.
Sundin, Sarah (2022) “Victory Gardens in World War II. Today in World War II History, August 15, 2022. https://www.sarahsundin.com/victory-gardens-in-world-war-ii/
Swader, Paul (2015) “An Analysis of Modified Material Culture from Amache: Investigating the Landscape of Japanese American Internment.” MA thesis, Social Sciences, University of Denver.
Tamura, Anna (2020) “Gardens in Camp.” Densho Encyclopedia, October 5, 2020.
Tavoda, McKenzie (2015) “A ‘Land You Could Not Escape yet Almost Didn’t Want to Leave:’ Japanese American Identity in Manzanar Internment Camp Gardens.” Undergraduate thesis, Chapman University, California.
United States Department of Agriculture (1945) Victory Garden Kit: Your Victory Garden Program – 1945. United States Department of Agriculture. Collection of Indiana University Library, Government Publications Department.
--- (1944a) A Victory Gardener’s Handbook on Insects and Diseases. United States Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Publication No. 525. Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
--- (1944b) Victory Garden Insect Guide, May 1944. United States Department of Agriculture. Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
--- (1943a) Victory Garden Leader’s Handbook. United States Department of Agriculture. Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
--- (1943b) “Victory Gardens for Beginners and Busy People” (radio script). United States Department of Agriculture, Radio Service. Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
United States Office of Civilian Defense (1942) Garden for Victory: Guide for Planning the Local Victory Garden Program, United States Office of Civilian Defense, Washington, DC. Collection of the National Agricultural Library.
United States Office of War Information (1942) “Washington, D.C. Vice President Henry A. Wallace in his Victory Garden.” Photo by John Vachon, Office of War Information, August 1942. Collection of the Library of Congress.
United States War Relocation Authority (1944) “Closing of the Jerome Center, Denson, Arkansas. Mrs. S. Matsunaga, a Jerome resident, takes up her flower garden for transplanting at her new home in the Rohwer Center.” Photo by Charles E. Mace, War Relocation Authority, June 14, 1944. Collection of the Library of Congress.
Varner, Natasha (2018) “The WWII Politics of Farms and Labor.” Densho, October 12, 2018.
Walerga Wasp (1942) “Victory Garden.” Walerga Wasp (Sacramento, California) May 20, 1942, p. 3
Watts, Katie (2022) “Finding Their Roots.” Sonoma County Gazette (Santa Rosa, California), March 28, 2022.
Winkler, Allan M. (2012) Home Front U.S.A.: America During World War II. 3rd Edition. Harlan Davidson, Wheeling, IL.
Wyatt, Barbara, ed. (2012) Japanese Americans in World War II: A National Historic Landmarks Theme Study. National Park Service, Washington, DC.
Zebrowski, Carl (2005) “Operation Rutabaga.” America in WWII, December 2005.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The American Home Front Before World War II
3. The American Home Front and the Buildup to World War II
3B The Selective Service Act and the Arsenal of Democracy
4. The American Home Front During World War II
4A A Date That Will Live in Infamy
4A(i) Maria Ylagan Orosa
4C Incarceration and Martial Law
4D Rationing, Recycling, and Victory Gardens
4D(i) Restrictions and Rationing on the World War II Home Front
4D(ii) Food Rationing on the World War II Home Front
4D(ii)(a) Nutrition on the Home Front in World War II
4D(ii)(b) Coffee Rationing on the World War II Home Front
4D(ii)(c) Meat Rationing on the World War II Home Front
4D(ii)(d) Sugar: The First and Last Food Rationed on the World War II Home Front
4D(iii) Rationing of Non-Food Items on the World War II Home Front
4D(iv) Home Front Illicit Trade and Black Markets in World War II
4D(v) Material Drives on the World War II Home Front
4D(v)(a) Uncle Sam Needs to Borrow Your… Dog?
4D(vi) Victory Gardens on the World War II Home Front
4D(vi)(a) Canning and Food Preservation on the World War II Home Front
4E The Economy
4E(i) Currency on the World War II Home Front
4E(ii) The Servel Company in World War II & the History of Refrigeration
5. The American Home Front After World War II
5A The End of the War and Its Legacies
5A(i) Post World War II Food
More From This Series
-
The Home Front During World War IICanning and Food PreservationPlanting Victory Gardens was only part of the work. Efficiently and safely preserving that bounty for later use was crucial.
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The Home Front During World War IIIncarceration and Martial LawThe US government incarcerated many Americans and others in camps and prisons across the country. Martial law was declared in Hawaii.
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The Home Front During World War IINutritionDuring World War II, nutrition and food became linked with the future of America and of democracy itself.
Tags
- national register of historic places
- national historic landmark
- national monument
- japanese american history
- japanese american heritage
- asian american and pacific islander history
- women’s history
- foodways
- military history
- labor history
- world war 2
- world war ii
- ww2
- wwii
- migration and immigration
- engaging with the environment
- science and technology
- agricultural history
- history of science
- lgbtq
- victory garden
- archaeology
- american world war ii heritage city
- awwiihc
- oak ridge
- tennessee
- government history
- manhattan project
- gardening
- utah
- amache
- colorado
- heart mountain
- wyoming
- jerome
- arkansas
- manzanar
- california
- minidoka
- idaho
- poston
- arizona
- rohwer
- topaz
- utah
- tule lake
- puyallup
- washington
- arcadia
- san bruno
- japanese exclusion assembly centers
- war relocation centers
- enemy aliens
- crystal city
- fort missoula
- montana
- texas
- kooskia
- chicago
- illinois
- boston
- massachusetts
- minneapolis
- minnesota
- new york city
- new york
- kennet square
- pennsylvania
- aapi history
- aapi heritage
- washington dc
- awwiihc criteria