America’s first women soldiers
- Categories
- Book/Boek
- Creator
- Cobbs, Elizabeth
- Publish Year
- 2017
- Shelfmark
- VS 52 2017
- Thesaurus
- militaire beroepen, telefonisten, pioniers, krijgsmacht, communicatie, eerste wereldoorlog, vrouwenkiesrecht, gelijke beloning, rechtspraak, Verenigde Staten, Frankrijk, 1910-1919, 1970-1979, 20e eeuw, onderzoek, biografische gegevens
- Description
- This book tells the story of the 223 women who served in the United States Army's Signal Corps in World War I as the first American women soldiers, such as Grace Barker and Merle Egan. General John Persing demanded female 'wire experts' to keep him connected with troops under fire as without communication the army would collapse. In 1918 they were deployed to France as operators of the telephone switchboard. The book reveals the challenges the women faced in a war zone with bombardments and male soldiers. The army discharged the last 'Hello girls' in 1920, only to be denied recognition as veterans and veterans' benefits while in the same year Congress ratified the Nineteenth Amendment granting the ballot and gave women the right to vote. The women began a sixty-year battle that a handful of survivors carried to triumph in 1979.