Hello Girls

Hello Girls, formally the Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit, were American female switchboard operators in World War I. During the war, these switchboard operators were sworn into the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Until 1977 they were officially categorized as civilian "contract employees" of the US Army. This corps was formed in 1917 from a call by General John J. Pershing to improve the worsening state of communications on the Western front. Early applicants had to be bilingual in English and French to ensure that orders would be understood by anyone. Over 7,000 women applied, but only 450 were accepted. Many of these women were former switchboard operators or employees at telecommunications companies. They completed their Signal Corps training at various sites, including Camp Franklin, now a part of Fort George G. Meade in Maryland.

History of the term

The term "Hello Girls" was coined for female telephone switchboard operators in the US, who greeted callers with "hello" when they signaled to place a call. An early published reference to "hello girls" is in Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court written in 1889: "The humblest hello-girl along ten thousand miles of wire could teach gentleness, patience, modesty, manners, to the highest duchess in Arthur's land".

Service

In September 1917, as male recruits were being shipped to France, the commanders of various Army camps in the continental United States began asking for permission to build facilities to house women telephone operators to maintain their communications.