A Working Farm
Matthew Vassar’s "1865 College Prospectus" proclaimed that “A sound mind in a sound body is [...] a first truth among educators.” Physical and mental well-being was seen as fundamental to the development of women of “beautiful strength.” Since 1865, the Vassar Farm has been contributing to the fulfillment of this founding. In the campus description in college’s first catalogue, we learn that two-thirds of the institution’s 200 acres were relegated to the Vassar Farm & gardens. Nearly a decade & a half later, the farm has grown to over 500 acres, an impressive tract of land, the majority of which lies within the City of Poughkeepsie.
In the interim, the Vassar Farm has seen a series of uses, transformations and threats. In the early years, the Farm supported a farmer and his family while providing the majority of the college’s sustenance. In 1879, only 14 years after the founding of the college, over 130 acres were devoted exclusively to farming. At this time the farm annually yielded 4,000 bushels of potatoes and 600 bushels of tomatoes on land shared with an impressive roster of farm animals (180 pure bred Holstein cattle, 350 pure bred Plymouth Rock chickens, 130 pigs and 17 horses). The farm also hosted an advanced sewage treatment system with a settling field and two filter beds established in 1895; the nutrients from the system were said to dramatically increase the corn yield.
By 1918 the College’s agricultural activities had expanded immensely. At this point a 675 acre tract was devoted to grazing and cultivation. The 1918/19 Catalogue proudly announces that “The Vassar Farm produces vegetables for the college table and grain and fodder for the cattle and poultry. The dairy supplies milk and cream for the college, from a tested herd of Holstein cattle.” The produce being served in Vassar’s dining halls was of better quality than could be purchased on the market and the prize-winning Holsteins received yearly attention for the richness of their milk.
Vassar student’s interaction with the farm, however, was not limited to the table. As early as 1876, Vassar women were working 8 hours a day during their summer recess. Female students participated in dairy operations as well as agricultural work. During the First World War, Vassar women took to the fields in increased numbers as “Farmerettes," a new generation of female farmers. This legendary troupe of women received a hands-on education in agricultural practice while providing affordable food of the highest quality to the college.
WWII marked the beginnings of community gardening on the college land. Referred to as "Victory Gardens," this land was carved out of Vassar’s working farm for the sake of amateur gardeners who could rent up to 3 plots each for a nominal fee. In most cases, their plots yield was used to supplement their family’s diet. Covering the current community gardens as well as a large portion of what is now the Poughkeepsie Farm Project, the gardens were organized during the war by Vassar professors and included many more plots than are currently available on the farm. Only people affiliated with Vassar were allowed plots and the space became an important social space for faculty members who met for weekly picnics and parties in the gardens. Fortunately, the space carved out for community gardens has been protected ever since and continues to serve as a vital space for social and nutritional nourishment.
The working farm for the college, however, is a different story. By the 1950s, the farm’s economic viability was dwindling. In 1952, the college enacted a management plan under the Forest Protection Act as a means of profit-making and forest management. A demonstration forest of 34 acres (including 12 acres of the former pig lot) was thinned of all mature hardwoods for timber. Despite these steps to save the farm’s profitability, by 1957 the Trustees concluded that the farm was no longer a viable means for providing food for the college. That same year, the herd of prize-winning, pure-bred, dairy cows was auctioned off and the fields ceased to be cultivated.