Speaker topic: the use of POW’s on Maryland Farms during World War II to assist in providing agricultural labor as part of the Emergency Farm Labor Supply Program.
When 4000 German and Italian prisoners of war (POW's) were being housed at nearby Fort Meade, the Kinder Family took the opportunity to pick up day laborers to work at their farm in Millersville, MD (now Kinder Farm Park). Having emigrated from Germany in the 1890's, the Kinder family was interested in hearing about the places they remembered and the events they had heard about in Germany. The POW's worked at Kinder from 1943-1945 and helped with planting and harvesting, along with construction and maintenance of farm buildings because of the serious labor shortage of American workers.
POW's were housed in over 500 camps across America. By May 1945, there were over 425,000 POW's in the US -- about 370,000 of them were German, followed by around 50,000 Itailians and 4,000 Japanese.
The speaker, Emma Satterfield, is a doctoral student in Anthropology at the University of Maryland and is currently serving as a graduate intern with the Anne Arundel County Cultural Resources Division. Emma has done extensive research on the subject of POW’s and how they were used by Maryland farmers. She has published a report of her findings. Much of her research has been on use of German POW’s from Camp Meade, (now Ft. Meade) Maryland and their work at Kinder Farm.
All attendees must pre-register.
On the day of the event, attendees must show their tickets at the entrance to the Harvest Hall in the Visitors Center.
Light refreshments will be served.