The Hello Girls: America's first women soldiers

The Hello Girls were an intrepid group of 223 women sent to France in 1918 by the U.S. Army Signal Corps to serve as switchboard operators at the request of General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces. As wire experts, their job was to facilitate communication between the army's command and the Allies and frontline troops. On the home front, the battle for women's suffrage was still raging and would not be won until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, in 1920. That year, the Hello Girls were dismissed from army service without veterans' benefits, although they had taken the army oath, worn uniforms, and lived in military accommodations. They fought to be compensated for 60 years. Historian Cobbs creates a multilayered account of American political and social life in the early twentieth century, enriched by her use of personal accounts and other primary sources. Cobbs shines a spotlight on the unique contributions of a group of remarkable American women, in the spirit of Hidden Figures (2016), in a book that belongs in every American-history collection.--Mulac, Carolyn Copyright 2017 Booklist

Cobbs (American Umpire), chair in American history at Texas A&M, examines the Signal Corps's female telephone operators during WWI in the first full-length scholarly work of its kind. Her fine study enriches our understanding of America's participation in its first major European war by focusing on important historical actors who are typically sidelined in military accounts. Under Gen. John Pershing's orders, 223 bilingual female operators-dubbed Hello Girls-were sent to Europe to handle communications among the Allies. Hundreds of women had rushed to apply, eager to demonstrate their patriotism and claim equal citizenship. Cobbs discusses the final phase of the women's suffrage campaign to highlight the connections between military service and citizenship. This information is sometimes awkwardly inserted, diverting attention from the more compelling story of the Hello Girls' contributions to the success of the Allied war effort. Grace Banker, a 25-year-old chief operator, efficiently worked the switchboard during the Meuse-Argonne battle. Merle Egan, stationed at Services of Supply headquarters, facilitated communications to guarantee the army received necessary supplies. After the war, the Hello Girls had to fight for formal recognition of their service; the army attempted to classify them as civilian contract employees and deny them veterans' benefits. Aficionados of WWI history and women's history will appreciate Cobbs's book. Illus. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Cobbs (history, Texas A&M Univ.; American Umpire) shines a new light on the history of suffrage and women's rights in the United States, using as a lens the servicewomen enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I. Dubbed the Hello Girls, these women operated the telephone switchboards that facilitated communication between Allied forces and worked, in President Woodrow Wilson's words, "wherever men have worked and on the very skirts and edges of the battle itself." In this groundbreaking work, Cobbs weaves the trials and triumphs of America's first female soldiers (although they wouldn't win the right to claim that distinction until 1979) with the fight for women's rights and the rising waves of feminism. Although presenting a story of national interest and international impact, the author manages to keep the story personal and relatable by focusing on the experiences of the women in the Signal Corps. VERDICT Clearly well-researched and well-written in a tone that both scholars and armchair historians alike will find engaging, this book is highly recommended to readers seeking new material on World War I, American history, military history, women's history, and gender studies.-Crystal -Goldman, Univ. of California, San Diego Lib. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

As members of the Army's Signal Corps, women played a critical role in World War I.In an informative history of women's military work, Cobbs (Chair, American History/Texas AM Univ.; The Hamilton Affair, 2016, etc.) focuses on more than 200 telephone operators who supported combat soldiers in Europe soon after the United States entered the war in 1917. For the first time in war, the telephone became the essential form of communication, requiring skilled workers to nimbly manipulate "jacks, sockets, ringers, and buzzers on the boards of busy switching stations." In the U.S., this job fell to women, who, claims the author, "may possess advantages over males in multitasking." Since they did not have advantages over males in finding jobs, many opted to become operators, which paid better than most white-collar employment available to women. Besides needing nimble fingers, the Army also needed bilingual operators to communicate with the French military. These volunteers vastly outnumbered those with telephone experience, and they learned technical skills on the job. Closely following a handful of Signal Corps members, Cobbs reveals that they joined partly out of patriotism, partly to seek adventure. All believed they were being inducted into the Army, following the precedent of females welcomed into the Navy and Marines. The Army, though, adamantly maintained that women's enlistment into the military was "unwise and highly undesirable." Although outfitted in uniforms, which they purchased themselves, and adhering to military hierarchy, they discovered, after the war ended, that they were not considered to be veterans and not entitled to any postwar benefits. "They had not been soldiers," the Army insisted, "no matter how many officers had told them, You're in the army now.' " The Army's refusal persisted until 1979, when 31 survivors finally won a lawsuit. The author's story of these women's recruitment, war work, and postwar frustration is stronger than her argument tying their service to the achievement of women's suffrage, whose political supporters had complicated, often self-serving motives. A fresh, well-researched contribution to military and gender history. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The Hello Girls were an intrepid group of 223 women sent to France in 1918 by the U.S. Army Signal Corps to serve as switchboard operators at the request of General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces. As "wire experts," their job was to facilitate communication between the army's command and the Allies and frontline troops. On the home front, the battle for women's suffrage was still raging and would not be won until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, in 1920. That year, the Hello Girls were dismissed from army service without veterans' benefits, although they had taken the army oath, worn uniforms, and lived in military accommodations. They fought to be compensated for 60 years. Historian Cobbs creates a multilayered account of American political and social life in the early twentieth century, enriched by her use of personal accounts and other primary sources. Cobbs shines a spotlight on the unique contributions of a group of remarkable American women, in the spirit of Hidden Figures (2016), in a book that belongs in every American-history collection. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

Cobbs (history, Texas A&M Univ.; American Umpire) shines a new light on the history of suffrage and women's rights in the United States, using as a lens the servicewomen enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I. Dubbed the Hello Girls, these women operated the telephone switchboards that facilitated communication between Allied forces and worked, in President Woodrow Wilson's words, "wherever men have worked and on the very skirts and edges of the battle itself." In this groundbreaking work, Cobbs weaves the trials and triumphs of America's first female soldiers (although they wouldn't win the right to claim that distinction until 1979) with the fight for women's rights and the rising waves of feminism. Although presenting a story of national interest and international impact, the author manages to keep the story personal and relatable by focusing on the experiences of the women in the Signal Corps. VERDICT Clearly well-researched and well-written in a tone that both scholars and armchair historians alike will find engaging, this book is highly recommended to readers seeking new material on World War I, American history, military history, women's history, and gender studies.—Crystal Goldman, Univ. of California, San Diego Lib.

Cobbs (American Umpire), chair in American history at Texas A&M, examines the Signal Corps's female telephone operators during WWI in the first full-length scholarly work of its kind. Her fine study enriches our understanding of America's participation in its first major European war by focusing on important historical actors who are typically sidelined in military accounts. Under Gen. John Pershing's orders, 223 bilingual female operators—dubbed Hello Girls—were sent to Europe to handle communications among the Allies. Hundreds of women had rushed to apply, eager to demonstrate their patriotism and claim equal citizenship. Cobbs discusses the final phase of the women's suffrage campaign to highlight the connections between military service and citizenship. This information is sometimes awkwardly inserted, diverting attention from the more compelling story of the Hello Girls' contributions to the success of the Allied war effort. Grace Banker, a 25-year-old chief operator, efficiently worked the switchboard during the Meuse-Argonne battle. Merle Egan, stationed at Services of Supply headquarters, facilitated communications to guarantee the army received necessary supplies. After the war, the Hello Girls had to fight for formal recognition of their service; the army attempted to classify them as civilian contract employees and deny them veterans' benefits. Aficionados of WWI history and women's history will appreciate Cobbs's book. Illus. (Apr.)