October 30, 2024
U.S. Women in the Great War: Nurses, Correspondents, Telephone Operators
James Hockenberry
American Journalist and Author
U.S. Women in the Great War: Nurses, Correspondents, Telephone Operators
James Hockenberry
American Journalist and Author
Minutes of the Eighth Meeting of the 83rd Year
President George Bustin called to order the eighth meeting of our 83rd year at 10:15 AM on October 30. Joan Fleming led the invocation. There were 123 people present. The following nine guests were introduced:
Jim McPherson and Martin Bendersky by Jim Hockenberry
Susan Anderson by Marlaine Lockheed
Elizabeth Littlefield by Daniel Shapiro
Gerta Hoehn by Lynne Durkee
Ted Brown by Don Light
Maureen Strazdon by Ferris Olin
Mark Loizeaux by David Rosenfeld
Jean-Rene Gougelet by Peter Epstein
George reminded members that those needing name tags should contact Larry Hans and those needing neckties or scarves should see David Long. He announced next week’s speaker would be Nolan McCarty, Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton, and his topic will be “Election 2024”: What Just happened and What Does It Mean?”
Julie Denny read the minutes of the previous meeting submitted by Julie Elward-Berry.
Ralph Widner introduced our speaker, James Hockenberry, who, though having addressed Old Guard twice before, is doing so for the first time as an Old Guard member. Mr. Hockenberry, a career financial executive with degrees from Lafayette College and Columbia University, began as a CPA with Ernst & Young. After moving to W. R. Grace, they transferred him to their European headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he lived for 15 years. He returned to the U.S., put his financial career behind him, and began to research history and write mysteries. His award-winning World War I intrigue series dramatized American involvement in the Great War and foreshadowed the present world. However, his talk today was nonfiction concerning the story of the role and importance of women involved in WWI.
Jim began by reviewing the role of women in his family including his degreed mother and grandmother, an amputee, and how important those women and their ability to cope have been to him. He then went on to tell us that today he wanted to discuss ordinary women who did extraordinary things. There were 25,000 American women who worked in France during WWI, largely in three fields: as nurses, correspondents and telephone operators. There were also one million women working at home to support the war. These American women made a considerable commitment in our war effort.
Beginning with nurses, Jim described how the size of armies and battlefields and the nature of weapons had changed between the Civil War and WWI. The change from hand weapons to artillery shells made the nature of wartime wounds much more severe. Focusing on France, he told us that moving the wounded and dead from the battlefield was an anguishing, slow process and many wounded soldiers actually died waiting to be transported. Nurses covered these activities from battlefield clearing to hospitals. The scope of injuries was devastating. The term “basket case” came out of those WWI injured who had all four limbs blown off by artillery and needed to be transported in baskets. The effects of mustard gas, shell shock, and general exhaustion were everyday occurrences for the nurses treating the wounded. The nurses often worked 16+ hours, dealt with massive numbers of wounded, had very limited resources, and were located very close to combat lines.
He went on to detail how American products such as J & J Band-Aids and Kotex sanitary products got their start in wound treatment during WWI. Discussing several notable women contributing to the war effort in France, he cited British author Vera Brittain, who joined the WWI nurses, and found that after the war nobody wanted to embrace her stories of her war experience. Jim highlighted Morning Glory Hancock, an American from Florida, as the highest decorated woman in WWI.
War correspondents were the second group of women impacting our war effort. Both education and literacy in the U.S. increased dramatically in the latter 1800s. Women authors like Emily Dickinson and Louisa May Alcott became precursors to war correspondents. There were 36 such female correspondents that we know of. They were successful and highly educated writers for U.S. newspapers and magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, and knew how to write stories for women to read. They wrote about hardships and the effects of the war on family life. These writers went on to create the concept of “the story of one becomes the story of all.” This approach focused on one person’s story as a way to understand the story of all.
Jim spoke of Mary Roberts Rinehart as one of the premier correspondents of the time who was sent overseas as a result of her renown. Mentioning others like Peggy Hull and Nellie Bly, he credited these correspondents with changing the perception of women to being full and equal participants with men in journalism.
The last group of women Jim covered were telephone operators, also known as “Hello Girls.” There were 233 American operators who went to France. These women were typically much younger than war correspondents and usually single. The goal was to provide direct, secure, and reliable communication between the front lines, headquarters, and command posts. The French could not provide women for this role. and men were usually not very good in this role. Undergoing massive training, these operators were educated, disciplined, and discreet. They were all bilingual in French and English. They worked 12 hour shifts of 300 calls per hour. They worked within range of German artillery and were in constant danger.
Grace D. Banker was the chief U.S. operator in charge of the 233 others and a recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal. These operators were the first U.S. women to be involved in combat. They handled over three million calls during their service in WWI. The “Hello Girls” have been nominated for a Congressional Gold Medal. This effort has already been approved by the Senate and Jim urged us to reach out to our Representatives to solicit support for the “Hello Girls.”
In conclusion, Jim called all three groups of women pioneers. They helped accelerate women’s roles in our country and changed expectations. In short, they helped win the war!
Respectfully submitted,
Larry Hans
President George Bustin called to order the eighth meeting of our 83rd year at 10:15 AM on October 30. Joan Fleming led the invocation. There were 123 people present. The following nine guests were introduced:
Jim McPherson and Martin Bendersky by Jim Hockenberry
Susan Anderson by Marlaine Lockheed
Elizabeth Littlefield by Daniel Shapiro
Gerta Hoehn by Lynne Durkee
Ted Brown by Don Light
Maureen Strazdon by Ferris Olin
Mark Loizeaux by David Rosenfeld
Jean-Rene Gougelet by Peter Epstein
George reminded members that those needing name tags should contact Larry Hans and those needing neckties or scarves should see David Long. He announced next week’s speaker would be Nolan McCarty, Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton, and his topic will be “Election 2024”: What Just happened and What Does It Mean?”
Julie Denny read the minutes of the previous meeting submitted by Julie Elward-Berry.
Ralph Widner introduced our speaker, James Hockenberry, who, though having addressed Old Guard twice before, is doing so for the first time as an Old Guard member. Mr. Hockenberry, a career financial executive with degrees from Lafayette College and Columbia University, began as a CPA with Ernst & Young. After moving to W. R. Grace, they transferred him to their European headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he lived for 15 years. He returned to the U.S., put his financial career behind him, and began to research history and write mysteries. His award-winning World War I intrigue series dramatized American involvement in the Great War and foreshadowed the present world. However, his talk today was nonfiction concerning the story of the role and importance of women involved in WWI.
Jim began by reviewing the role of women in his family including his degreed mother and grandmother, an amputee, and how important those women and their ability to cope have been to him. He then went on to tell us that today he wanted to discuss ordinary women who did extraordinary things. There were 25,000 American women who worked in France during WWI, largely in three fields: as nurses, correspondents and telephone operators. There were also one million women working at home to support the war. These American women made a considerable commitment in our war effort.
Beginning with nurses, Jim described how the size of armies and battlefields and the nature of weapons had changed between the Civil War and WWI. The change from hand weapons to artillery shells made the nature of wartime wounds much more severe. Focusing on France, he told us that moving the wounded and dead from the battlefield was an anguishing, slow process and many wounded soldiers actually died waiting to be transported. Nurses covered these activities from battlefield clearing to hospitals. The scope of injuries was devastating. The term “basket case” came out of those WWI injured who had all four limbs blown off by artillery and needed to be transported in baskets. The effects of mustard gas, shell shock, and general exhaustion were everyday occurrences for the nurses treating the wounded. The nurses often worked 16+ hours, dealt with massive numbers of wounded, had very limited resources, and were located very close to combat lines.
He went on to detail how American products such as J & J Band-Aids and Kotex sanitary products got their start in wound treatment during WWI. Discussing several notable women contributing to the war effort in France, he cited British author Vera Brittain, who joined the WWI nurses, and found that after the war nobody wanted to embrace her stories of her war experience. Jim highlighted Morning Glory Hancock, an American from Florida, as the highest decorated woman in WWI.
War correspondents were the second group of women impacting our war effort. Both education and literacy in the U.S. increased dramatically in the latter 1800s. Women authors like Emily Dickinson and Louisa May Alcott became precursors to war correspondents. There were 36 such female correspondents that we know of. They were successful and highly educated writers for U.S. newspapers and magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, and knew how to write stories for women to read. They wrote about hardships and the effects of the war on family life. These writers went on to create the concept of “the story of one becomes the story of all.” This approach focused on one person’s story as a way to understand the story of all.
Jim spoke of Mary Roberts Rinehart as one of the premier correspondents of the time who was sent overseas as a result of her renown. Mentioning others like Peggy Hull and Nellie Bly, he credited these correspondents with changing the perception of women to being full and equal participants with men in journalism.
The last group of women Jim covered were telephone operators, also known as “Hello Girls.” There were 233 American operators who went to France. These women were typically much younger than war correspondents and usually single. The goal was to provide direct, secure, and reliable communication between the front lines, headquarters, and command posts. The French could not provide women for this role. and men were usually not very good in this role. Undergoing massive training, these operators were educated, disciplined, and discreet. They were all bilingual in French and English. They worked 12 hour shifts of 300 calls per hour. They worked within range of German artillery and were in constant danger.
Grace D. Banker was the chief U.S. operator in charge of the 233 others and a recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal. These operators were the first U.S. women to be involved in combat. They handled over three million calls during their service in WWI. The “Hello Girls” have been nominated for a Congressional Gold Medal. This effort has already been approved by the Senate and Jim urged us to reach out to our Representatives to solicit support for the “Hello Girls.”
In conclusion, Jim called all three groups of women pioneers. They helped accelerate women’s roles in our country and changed expectations. In short, they helped win the war!
Respectfully submitted,
Larry Hans