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The Hello Girls: Women Telephone Operators with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2010

Jill Frahm
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Extract

When historians describe the American woman who served overseas with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I, they typically fall back on generalizations. The American women who served “over there” were white, single, well-educated, and from an urban area of the Northeast or West Coast of the United States. Most were gainfully employed before going to Europe, holding a teaching, clerical, or other position suitable for respectable white women of that period. Frequently, they were financially independent and lived on their own. While such generalizations are valuable, their obvious drawback is that they obscure the diversity of women serving in specific organizations. Also, such generalizations can prove misleading when applied to any one organization; what might be true for a YMCA worker might be false for a telephone operator.

Type
Essays
Information
The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , July 2004 , pp. 271 - 293
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 2004

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References

2 Elizabeth Roby to the Army Signal Corps, December 6, 1917, Personnel (201) Folder of Elizabeth Roby, National Archives Civilian Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, MO. [Hereafter cited as CPRCSt.Louis]

3 Jennie E. Conroy to Mr. Darling, August 4, 1918, Personnel (201) Folder of Jane Conroy, CPRCSt.Louis.

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5 The exact origin of “Hello Girl” is unknown. It was a common nickname in the United States for a telephone operator prior to and during World War I.

6 Dorothy, and Schneider, Carl J., Into the Breach: American Women Overseas in World War I (New York, 1991), 11–12.Google Scholar

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10 General Correspondence Folder; 231.3 Telephone Operators (Overseas) Office of the Chief Signal Officer Correspondence, Record Group 111; National Archives Building, College Park, MD, 795. [Hereafter materials from Record Group 111 at National Archives Building, College Park, MD are cited as RG111]

11 “Miss Edith L. Roy, Operator”, 231.3 Operators in Training At End of War Folder, RG111,1004.

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20 “Service Record”, Personnel (201) folder of Alice Borreson, CPRCSt.Louis; “Miss Emma Aurore Lundell, Supervisor”, 231.3 (WW) Overseas Telephone Operators (7th Group), RG111, 371–5; “Miss Anita Brown, Operator”, 231.3 (WW) Overseas Telephone Operators (7th Group), RG111, 385–9; “Miss Mary Florence Mecredy, Operator”, 231.3 (WW) Overseas Telephone Operators (7th Group), RG111, 497–9; “Miss Madeline Batta, Operator”, 231.3 Telephone Operators (Overseas) (4m Group), RG111, 85–7.

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26 Captain William S. Vivian to Lieut. E. J. Wessen, December 28, 1917, Appointments, 231.3 Telephone Operators, Office of the Chief Signal Corps Correspondence, 1917–1940, RG111.3.

27 “Report of Interview Applicants for position with Signal Corps Telephone Operators Unit,” 4.

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44 Painter, Nell Irvin, Standing at Armageddon: The United States 1877–1919 (New York, 1987), xxxiii.Google Scholar

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48 The source for this statement was issues of the University of Washington Daily from February — November 1918. Articles appeared about each woman selected to join the operators and their farewell parties. The party guest lists frequently named women who later became AEF operators.

49 Application, Personnel (201) Folder of Grace Banker, CPRCSt.Louis; “Miss Elizabeth Macauley, Operator”, 231.3 Telephone Operators (Overseas) (5th Group); RG111, 1890.

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