Contributed by Aroostook County Historical and Art Museum
Description
Camp Houlton was established in 1944 for the internment of prisoners of war to provide laborers for local farms to harvest peas, pick potatoes and other work.
The prisoners were paid a dollar a day in scrip that they could spend at the post exchange, the base store, for toiletries, tobacco, chocolate, and even beer.
Not all POWs were allowed to work on the farms for security reasons.
Many farmers came to see the POWs who worked their fields as good laborers rather than enemy soldiers.
In this picture, the POW farm workers are posing for the picture with the farmer's wife. Pictures of POWs are unusual because photographing POWs was not allowed.
About This Item
- Title: Prisoners of War in the farm field, Houlton, 1945
- Creation Date: 1945
- Subject Date: 1945
- Location: Houlton, Aroostook County, ME
- Media: Photographic print
- Dimensions: 6.5 cm x 10.5 cm
- Collection: Catherine Bell Collection
- Object Type: Image
Cross Reference Searches
Standardized Subject Headings
- Concentration camps--Maine--Houlton
- Detention facilities--Maine--Houlton
- Farms and farming--Maine--Houllton
- Prisoners of war--German--Maine--Houlton--Photographs
- World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners
Other Keywords
For more information about this item, contact:
Aroostook County Historical and Art Museum109 Main Street, Houlton, ME 04730
207-532-4216
Website
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. No Permission is required to use the low-resolution watermarked image for educational use, or as allowed by the applicable copyright. For all other uses, permission is required.
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