Authors, historians, playwrights, and filmmaker urge House Leadership to vote on Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal legislation
Published: 25 November 2024
Hello Girls
The “Hello Girls” were U.S. Army Signal Corps switchboard operators who connected calls between front line trenches and Army command in World War I. During the fiercest months of fighting, women operated switchboards twenty-four hours a day, connected five calls per minute. Nicknamed the Hello Girls, these female combatants patched through 26 million urgent messages to aid troops under fire.
Letters call on Speaker, Majority Leader to being Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal bill to a House vote.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Well-known American historians, authors, playwrights, and filmmakers who have published works about the U.S. Army Signal Corps World War I female telephone operators, known as the “Hello Girls,” have delivered letters to The Speaker of the House and the House Majority Leader calling for a House vote on legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the America’s First Women Soldiers.
“The hour of the Hello Girls is now,” the letters begin, pointing out that the Senate legislation for the Congressional Gold Medal (S.816) passed the Senate unanimously on September 24, and was received in the House of Representatives on September 25. Meanwhile, the companion House legislation (HR 1572) needed to get 290 cosponsors to be eligible for a vote―the measure got its 290th cosponsor on October 18, and that number has grown to 300. But there has been no vote on either measure by the House to date.
Elizabeth Cobbs, historian and author of “The Hello Girls: America’s First Women Soldiers”
“We wonder why the measure has not gone to the Floor,” the letters continues. “The clock is running down, and these women soldiers should not be left behind again, as they were after World War One.”
James Theres, Producer and Director of “The Hello Girls” documentary.
The Congressional Gold Medal legislation was officially recommended to the 188th Congress by the United States World War I Centennial Commission, and is supported by the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the Military Women’s Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, the Army Women’s Foundation, the Women Warriors Foundation, and other military and women’s organizations. Similar legislation was introduced in the 116th and 117th Congresses.
Claudia Friddell, author of the nonfiction Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call.
The signatories of the letter of the new letters note that they are “eight professional writers: two historians, including a winner of the Pulitzer Prize; two authors of historical fiction; two playwrights; a children’s nonfiction author; and a documentary filmmaker. We have all produced major works on the War and are deeply familiar with the unique contribution to victory made by America’s first women soldiers.”
Historian Elizabeth Cobbs, author of the bestselling book The Hello Girls, America’s First Women Soldiers, initiated the letters, and enlisted the support of the other signers. She had earlier inspired a letter to Congress in April of 2024, cosigned by 55 academic and independent historians, calling for passage of the Congressional Gold Medal legislation. Her support for the Congressional Gold Medal is part her ongoing efforts to tell the neglected story of the WWI combat operators.
Those joining Cobbs in signing the letters to the Speaker and House Majority Leader include:
- Claudia Friddell, author of the nonfiction book Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call.
- James Theres, executive producer and director of The Hello Girls documentary film.
- Shanna Hatfield, author of the historical novel Molly.
- Aimie Runyon, author of the historical novel Girls on the Line.
- Peter Mills and Cara Reichel, playwrights who coauthored The Hello Girls, A New American Musical stage play.
- David M. Kennedy, prominent historian, and author of Over Here: The First World War and American Society.
Shanna Hatfield, author of the historical novel Molly.
As the new letters note, “The ‘Hello Girls’ connected over 26 million urgent telephone calls in wartime France, linking Army command with front line trenches, foreign allies, and supply depots. These Signal Corps soldiers connected calls five times faster than trained men, which is why General John Pershing originally cabled home: ‘On account of the great difficulty of obtaining properly qualified men, request organization and dispatch to France a force of woman telephone operators.’ He dictated that such bilingual recruits must ‘be uniformed’ and take the Army oath.”
Aimie Runyon, author of the historical novel Girls on the Line.
However, when the Hello Girls returned to America after the war ended, despite serving under commissioned officers, wearing uniforms, rank insignia, and dog tags, swearing the Army Oath, and being subject to court-martial, the Hello Girls were told they had served as ‘civilian contractors’ instead of soldiers. They were ignored for decades and forgotten by history. For almost 60 years, the surviving unit members petitioned Congress and the Army for the same veterans recognition afforded to their male colleagues. Finally, in 1977, Congress passed a law paving the way for the Hello Girls, and the Army’s Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II, to be recognized as full veterans of the US Armed Forces.
Peter Mills and Cara Reichel, playwrights of The Hello Girls, A New American Musical
As the new letters note, “The Hello Girls made a transformative difference: the ability of the bilingual female operators to pass critical tactical information calmly and seamlessly between two allied armies that spoke different languages was a fundamental breakthrough in rapid tactical communications.” The Hello Girls were pioneers in the use of electronic voice communications to manage combat operations at a time when the Army was transitioning from reliance on Morse code, whistles, flags, trumpets, and pigeons to get messages through. Their work helped bring the fighting to an end in the Allies’ favor as much as a year earlier than it might have taken without them, according to General Pershing.
David M. Kennedy, author of Over Here: The First World War and American Society.
All modern American military operations and tactical communications in the century since WWI have their roots with the Hello Girls, whose bravery, talents, skills, and dedication to duty set the standard to which all men and women in American military service should aspire.
The authors’ letters to the Speaker of the House and the House Majority Leader urges that the Congressional Gold Medal legislation should be given a floor vote as soon as possible: “As historians and authors, we believe that doing so honors not only these trailblazers, but every woman in uniform who has followed them.
“This rests in your hands now. Please get these valiant women to victory.”
Americans everywhere are asked to contact the Speaker of the House (202-225-4000) and the House Majority Leader (202-225-0197), and encourage them to bring S.815 or HR 1572 to the House floor for a vote as soon as possible after Congress reconvenes on December 2. You can also contact your own Member of the House of Representative, and urge them to reach out to the Speaker and the Majority Leader as well. The World War I Centennial Commission has provided a convenient online toolkit at https://ww1cc.org/hellogirls that makes it simple to send emails to your Representative in just a few minutes, or to call their offices and leave a message.
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