Signal Corps History Comes to the Stage

A key episode in the history of the US Army Signal Corps – the recruitment and deployment of bilingual women switchboard operators in World War I – is portrayed in “The Hello Girls,” a musical by Peter Mills and Cara Reichel.  With the support of the Doughboy Foundation, which educates the public about America’s participation in World War I, most of the cast of the original 2018 off-Broadway musical was recently reunited. They performed a brief concert of songs from the musical the World War I Memorial, and a full performance on May 7^th at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.

The Signal Corps like the rest of the US Army of 1917 was completely unprepared in terms of manpower and equipment for the requirements imposed by modern warfare.  The Signal Corps, comprised of 55 officers and 1,570 men at the time, would expand to 2,712 officers and 53,277 men by the end of World War I.  Major General George O. Squier had launched the Signal Corps Reserve prior to US entry into the war, drawn from American Telephone and Telegraph Company, Western Electric, Western Union, and the Postal Telegraph, to be prepared to be sent abroad immediately should the US enter the war.  Among those experts was AT&T Chief Engineer John J. Carty, who offered to the Army not only the company’s physical plant, but its services to organize, select, and train technical experts to build, operate and maintain the network.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday, Jan 20, 1918 p.2
(Image courtesy of Newspapers.com)

The American telephone system in 1917 comprised three times the number of telephones as there were in all the warring countries in Europe put together.  The Signal Corps took on the mission to transplant to French soil, 3000 miles from US shores, a complete modern American system that would connect with and augment the war-damaged French infrastructure.

As the network grew more robust, so too did the need for skilled switchboard operators who could not only connect a huge volume of calls quickly and calmly, but who could negotiate connections with French operators who did not speak English, and interpret conversations between English and French speaking officers.  The Army wanted the best operators and translators, and in 1917 most professional operators in the US were women.  Their skills were so vital to the war effort that General Pershing defied Army regulation prohibiting women from being soldiers and called for the creation of a Woman’s Telephone Operating Unit.

According to a 1919 report of the Chief Signal Officer to the Secretary of War, “The use of female operators in France was decided upon for two reasons. The first of these was the unquestioned superiority of women as telephone switchboard operators…”  At the request of the Signal Corps, the Engineering Department of AT&T undertook to secure the operators.  They did not have to search for long.  The first call for 100 volunteers was answered by 7,600 applications.

Grace Banker wearing the Distinguished Service Medal.
(Image courtesy of Carolyn Timbie)

Along with their counterparts who operated the switchboards for Army cantonments and the many training camps that sprung up around the US, these women were known colloquially as “Hello Girls.”  Ultimately 223 would take the oath of service and don Army uniforms and deploy to France.

The musical tells the story of the first group of Hello Girls who deployed to France in March, 1918. Chief Operator Grace Banker of Passaic, New Jersey led a group of 33 operators.  The musical focuses on the experiences of Banker, Helen Hill of New Haven, Connecticut; Berthe Hunt and Louise LeBreton of Berkeley, California; and Suzanne Prevot of New York.  Every detail of the women’s experience is expressed in song.  For example, in the song “Connected” the character playing Banker describes her devotion to her profession of making sure “voices that someone needs to hear get through,” and to “share in a world that’s wider than my own.”  She ultimately is convinced to “answer the call” and join the Army’s call for bilingual switchboard operators.  In “We Aren’t In the Army” the women recruits describe why they wanted to join and lament how “selective the service can be” when it comes to inducting women.  In “Marching Orders,” male Lieutenant Riser describes with embarrassment having to tell his buddies from the Academy that he commands the “Bell Battalion Telephonic Ladies Switchboard Unit Number One.”  That embarrassment of course turns to pride and mutual respect when later Captain Riser observes the women in action and then relies on their skills to connect his calls from the front.  In “Quinze Minutes” the women describe life under bombardment by the German Paris Gun which for days on end would strike Paris with an artillery shell on a schedule of every 15 minutes.   In “Twenty,” Banker exhorts a skeptical Riser to send the women to the front with First Army as the Meuse Argonne offensive kicks off.  Banker’s twenty reasons culminate in her dropping and doing pushups, telling Riser, “Help me count.”

L-R: Berthe Hunt, Tootsie Fresnel, and Grace Banker run the switchboard at First Army Headquarters.
(Image courtesy NARA, 111-SC-50699)

The real Grace Banker and her operators overcame the objections of many who questioned how the women would perform under fire. In real life, Colonel Parker Hitt, Chief Signal Officer for First Army, had no such misgivings and ordered Banker and a team of operators to draw helmets and gas masks and report to his headquarters in preparation for the final offensive of the war.  The music and choreography convey the stress of maintaining communications in the midst of the battle through artillery shells and a fire that broke out in the building that housed the switchboards. In the last song in the show, “Making History,” Banker, who remained after the Armistice until September 1919 to support the Army of Occupation at Coblenz, Germany learns from Suzanne, who had already returned home, that the Army did not consider them as having been soldiers, but civilian contractors.  As the show closes with the lyrics, “Every one of us is making history…” we learn that history was made in 1977 when Congress passed and President Carter signed legislation granting veteran status to the 223 Hello Girls who served overseas in World War I.  Only about 21 of the women lived to receive their Army discharge papers.

The show was very well received by the audience and made a powerful impression especially on the Signal Corps veterans who attended.  “We no longer have to fight for equal benefits as they did, but women soldiers today owe these women a debt of gratitude having walked through the doors they opened for us” said retired Colonel Linda Jantzen.  Retired Lieutenant Colonel Indira Donegan said, “As a former Army officer and Signal Corps combat veteran, the lyrics hit home in a way I couldn’t have expected. This is more than just a musical about the first women to serve in the military.  This is THE origin story of American women in STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] and of women in service to our nation.”

(l to r) COL Darcy St Amant, COL (ret) Linda Jantzen, COL (ret) Patricia Collins, and SGM Kristie Brady attended the musical, and are shown here with Grace Banker’s original helmet from her service in WWI. (Image courtesy of Linda Jantzen)

And retired Lieutenant General Susan Lawrence expressed “The musical was incredible. Its message often revolved around themes of empowerment, unity, and resilience in the face of adversity. It highlights the vital role these women played in communication during wartime, showcasing their determination and strength.”

Also in attendance were Elizabeth Cobbs, author of book, The Hello Girls; Jim Theres, film maker of a documentary by the same name; Claudia Friddell, author of the children’s book, Grace Banker and her Hello Girls Answer the Call; and several descendants of Hello Girls including Carolyn Timbie, granddaughter of Grace Banker; Catherine Bourgin, granddaughter of Marie Edmee LeRoux; and Donna Ayres, grand-niece of Olive Shaw.

Who in the Signal Corps ever thought there would be a musical written about it?  The creators of the musical drew most of the scenes and some of the lyrics from Elizabeth Cobbs’ book The Hello Girls, and from Grace Banker’s personal memoir.  The cast did their homework too. They researched the stories of the real life characters they portrayed, and their personal connection with these women came through in their performances.  The show is at once powerful, touching and funny, thoroughly enjoyable, and educational.

The United States World War I Centennial Commission, a Federal agency, has recommended to Congress (with the support of the American Legion, the VFW, and the Military Women’s Memorial) that the Hello Girls be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for their groundbreaking service in World War I. For more information, visit https://ww1cc.org/hellogirls