In December 1918, the Armistice ending World War I was about a month old, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson headed to Europe for the Paris Peace Conference, which would begin in January 1919. Many U.S. soldiers were still in France, or being sent to occupy the Rhineland. Included in those who spent another Christmas away from home were some of the members of the Signal Corps Female Telephone Operator Unit, known as “Hello Girls.” Over two-hundred women, who had to be fluent in both English and French, had been sent to operate switchboards in both England and France, arriving on the ground in France in March 1918.
As the U.S. prepared to support the peace process, the Army sent a contingent of Hello Girls to Paris to help translate during the proceedings, while others went to Germany to assist the Allied occupation forces. Originally organized under the direction of General John Pershing after seeing the success of the British Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, the women proved their worth over and over, and Pershing continued to extoll their value. In fact, their success influenced President Wilson to reverse his previous stance on women’s suffrage, and in September 1918, he urged legislators to pass women’s suffrage during his address to Congress. Wilson argued, “We have made partners of the women in this war. Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of privilege and rights? This war could not have been fought if it had not been for the services of the women, services rendered in every sphere wherever men have worked and upon the very skirts and edges of the battle itself.” Though Congress didn’t agree then, by 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing women the right to vote.
Not until 1977 were the women officially recognized with Veteran’s status, though it would come too late for many of the women. The officers they served with, though, recognized their great contributions, and as a Christmas tribute, prepared a memento that was provided to the Telephone Operating Units of the Signal Corps. The memento included messages and extracts extolling the work of the Hello Girls, featuring messages and photographs of General Pershing, Brigadier General E. Russel, Chief Signal Officer, commemorative photos of the switchboard operations in France, and a listing by name of the telephone operators of the American Expeditionary Forces, along with their home towns and unit numbers. The memento that is part of the CECOM History Archive includes notations from the original owner, Ms. Mildred Lewis.
In the foreword, Lieutenant Colonel Roy H. Coles. Signals Corps Executive Officer offers the following sentiments:
In extending Christmas greetings it is desired to take advantage of this opportunity to express to you on behalf of the officers of the Signal Corps the pride which we feel in being associated with you and the pleasure which it gives us to do anything which we may be able at this holiday season to make the occasion more pleasant for you.
The circumstances under which we are spending this particular Christmas are unusual – for you, most unusual. You are necessarily absent from your country, family and old friends, but it is believed that you have found and are finding new friends and interests to supplement the old. This, together with the consciousness of your skillful performance of vitally importance work, the realization that you have contributed, in no small measure, to the success which has crowned our arms and the knowledge that it will not be long until the great work can be called finished and we may all return to our beloved country, are your recompenses.
This booklet has been prepared by the officers of this office with the hearty cooperation and assistance of the commanding officers and Signal Corps officers under whom you are serving throughout France. It is presented to you with the thought that it will prove to be a valued and lasting memento of a period of efficient, honorable service, which it is hoped has been as agreeable and pleasant for you as it has for those with whom you have been working.
Just as the Signal Corps officers took the opportunity to remember and thank this small number of women who sacrificed for the chance to serve their county, so too should we remember all those Soldiers past and present who have to spend the holiday season apart from country, family, and old friends.
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