1
00:00:00,620 --> 00:00:03,810
Well, why don't
we get started. On

2
00:00:03,810 --> 00:00:06,315
behalf of the PSU
friends of history.

3
00:00:06,315 --> 00:00:08,249
I'd like to welcome
all of you to

4
00:00:08,249 --> 00:00:11,459
Professor Elizabeth
Cobbs' lecture,

5
00:00:11,459 --> 00:00:13,440
the Hello Girls,
World War One and

6
00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:14,759
America's first women

7
00:00:14,759 --> 00:00:16,139
soldiers. We are

8
00:00:16,139 --> 00:00:17,924
very excited to
have her with us.

9
00:00:17,924 --> 00:00:19,230
And we're very
glad that all

10
00:00:19,230 --> 00:00:20,804
of you were able to join.

11
00:00:20,804 --> 00:00:22,709
Friends of history at

12
00:00:22,709 --> 00:00:24,629
PSU has been around
for decades,

13
00:00:24,629 --> 00:00:27,149
but it experienced
through rebirth in 2012.

14
00:00:27,149 --> 00:00:28,950
And as a result of
faculty efforts

15
00:00:28,950 --> 00:00:30,540
and particularly
the vision of

16
00:00:30,540 --> 00:00:32,729
professor and

17
00:00:32,729 --> 00:00:34,800
the leadership of our
former president,

18
00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:36,539
Lew Livingston
and also our

19
00:00:36,539 --> 00:00:38,890
former department
chair, Tim Garrison.

20
00:00:38,890 --> 00:00:40,639
Friends of history
has sponsored

21
00:00:40,639 --> 00:00:42,844
over 25 lectures
like this one.

22
00:00:42,844 --> 00:00:45,440
And in addition,
among other things,

23
00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:47,719
we help from faculty
run colloquia.

24
00:00:47,719 --> 00:00:49,069
And there's one tomorrow

25
00:00:49,069 --> 00:00:51,844
actually with
Professor Hector

26
00:00:51,844 --> 00:00:53,809
and then faculty
and student

27
00:00:53,809 --> 00:00:56,615
research and travel
and other assistance.

28
00:00:56,615 --> 00:00:57,920
Our goal is to promote

29
00:00:57,920 --> 00:00:59,720
excellence in
teaching and study of

30
00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,090
history and to share
the universities

31
00:01:02,090 --> 00:01:03,560
collective
historic knowledge

32
00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,194
with the wider community.

33
00:01:05,194 --> 00:01:07,835
We would love to
have you as a member

34
00:01:07,835 --> 00:01:10,879
of friends of history
if you're not already,

35
00:01:10,879 --> 00:01:12,514
it help, your
membership helps

36
00:01:12,514 --> 00:01:14,584
sponsors lectures
like this one.

37
00:01:14,584 --> 00:01:15,950
To join that you should go

38
00:01:15,950 --> 00:01:17,374
to the history website.

39
00:01:17,374 --> 00:01:19,609
Click on Friends of
history at the top,

40
00:01:19,609 --> 00:01:22,024
and click Join FOH,

41
00:01:22,024 --> 00:01:25,985
scroll down and select
the appropriate form.

42
00:01:25,985 --> 00:01:27,619
With that, I'll
turn things

43
00:01:27,619 --> 00:01:29,284
over to Professor John,

44
00:01:29,284 --> 00:01:30,529
who will give Professor

45
00:01:30,529 --> 00:01:33,079
com a proper introduction.

46
00:01:33,079 --> 00:01:34,175
John.

47
00:01:34,175 --> 00:01:36,184
Thank you very much John,

48
00:01:36,184 --> 00:01:38,509
and good evening
everyone and

49
00:01:38,509 --> 00:01:41,675
welcome to this
video lecture,

50
00:01:41,675 --> 00:01:43,609
which we are delighted

51
00:01:43,609 --> 00:01:46,325
to co-sponsor with the
Friends of history.

52
00:01:46,325 --> 00:01:47,690
My name is John Ott.

53
00:01:47,690 --> 00:01:49,040
I am a professor of

54
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:50,870
medieval European
history and the Chair of

55
00:01:50,870 --> 00:01:52,370
the History Department at

56
00:01:52,370 --> 00:01:54,860
Portland State,
Cortland State.

57
00:01:54,860 --> 00:01:56,869
For those of you who
may not know us,

58
00:01:56,869 --> 00:01:58,190
is a large, diverse,

59
00:01:58,190 --> 00:01:59,600
and vibrant university in

60
00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:01,745
the heart of
downtown Portland.

61
00:02:01,745 --> 00:02:03,349
We are fortunate to have

62
00:02:03,349 --> 00:02:05,855
an equally vibrant
history department,

63
00:02:05,855 --> 00:02:08,420
which is home to 20
faculty and over

64
00:02:08,420 --> 00:02:10,969
250 majors and minors,

65
00:02:10,969 --> 00:02:13,534
as well as a robust
masters program.

66
00:02:13,534 --> 00:02:14,870
We hope you'll
take a moment and

67
00:02:14,870 --> 00:02:16,235
look us up online

68
00:02:16,235 --> 00:02:19,744
at pdx.edu slash history.

69
00:02:19,744 --> 00:02:21,950
I'd like to acknowledge

70
00:02:21,950 --> 00:02:26,149
the tireless work of
our departmental staff,

71
00:02:26,149 --> 00:02:28,249
Andrea Janda
and Jeff Brown,

72
00:02:28,249 --> 00:02:29,899
who have helped
to coordinate

73
00:02:29,899 --> 00:02:30,919
this event this evening,

74
00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:33,845
as well as prepare
publicity for it.

75
00:02:33,845 --> 00:02:35,479
I'd also like
to acknowledge

76
00:02:35,479 --> 00:02:37,174
the ongoing support of

77
00:02:37,174 --> 00:02:38,360
the dean's office of

78
00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,670
the College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences,

79
00:02:40,670 --> 00:02:42,470
Portland State
University, who have

80
00:02:42,470 --> 00:02:45,094
helped to make this
talk possible.

81
00:02:45,094 --> 00:02:46,909
Tonight's talk features

82
00:02:46,909 --> 00:02:48,829
professor Elizabeth Cobbs,
83
00:02:48,829 --> 00:02:50,120
whom we are delighted to

84
00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:51,979
have here in a
virtual format

85
00:02:51,979 --> 00:02:54,589
after COVID scratched
our attempts

86
00:02:54,589 --> 00:02:56,494
to bring her to
campus in person.

87
00:02:56,494 --> 00:02:58,159
This past fall.

88
00:02:58,159 --> 00:02:59,930
Professor Cobbs holds

89
00:02:59,930 --> 00:03:02,584
a PhD from Stanford
University,

90
00:03:02,584 --> 00:03:03,844
where she is also

91
00:03:03,844 --> 00:03:06,304
a member of the
Hoover Institute.

92
00:03:06,304 --> 00:03:09,110
She holds the Melbern Glasscock Chair at

93
00:03:09,110 --> 00:03:11,510
Texas A&M University and

94
00:03:11,510 --> 00:03:13,504
is one of those
rare birds,

95
00:03:13,504 --> 00:03:16,520
a professional
academic historian who

96
00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,000
is not only a
accomplished novelist,

97
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,265
but also a public
intellectual.

98
00:03:23,265 --> 00:03:25,090
Among her novels.
And I'll start

99
00:03:25,090 --> 00:03:27,489
there is the
Tubman Command,

100
00:03:27,489 --> 00:03:29,379
which you can see if
you visit her website,

101
00:03:29,379 --> 00:03:31,930
which was published
in 2019 and

102
00:03:31,930 --> 00:03:34,944
recounts Harriet
Tubman's key role

103
00:03:34,944 --> 00:03:38,080
and in 1860 three
union assault and

104
00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:39,220
plantation rain to

105
00:03:39,220 --> 00:03:41,485
liberate its slave
populations.

106
00:03:41,485 --> 00:03:44,140
It was chosen for the
Women's National Book

107
00:03:44,140 --> 00:03:48,024
association great group
reads top 20 list.

108
00:03:48,024 --> 00:03:50,349
Her academic
writings include

109
00:03:50,349 --> 00:03:53,754
a history of the Peace
Corps in the 1960s,

110
00:03:53,754 --> 00:03:56,019
works in US history.

111
00:03:56,019 --> 00:03:58,224
And of course, the subject
of tonight's talk,

112
00:03:58,224 --> 00:04:00,715
the hello girls
of World War 1.

113
00:04:00,715 --> 00:04:03,834
Her publications have
won her praise from

114
00:04:03,834 --> 00:04:05,140
an astonishingly wide

115
00:04:05,140 --> 00:04:06,889
range publishing outlets

116
00:04:06,889 --> 00:04:08,809
including the Wall
Street Journal,

117
00:04:08,809 --> 00:04:11,269
the New Yorker, and
The Miami Herald,

118
00:04:11,269 --> 00:04:13,114
among many, many others.

119
00:04:13,114 --> 00:04:15,710
She is also a sought
after columnist,

120
00:04:15,710 --> 00:04:17,389
an op-ed writer with

121
00:04:17,389 --> 00:04:19,790
columns appearing in
the Washington Post,

122
00:04:19,790 --> 00:04:22,400
the Houston Chronicle,
the Los Angeles Times,

123
00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,635
The Financial Times,
the New York Times,

124
00:04:24,635 --> 00:04:26,974
and probably many
other times as well.

125
00:04:26,974 --> 00:04:28,130
Too many to name.

126
00:04:28,130 --> 00:04:30,500
But you can find a
complete list on

127
00:04:30,500 --> 00:04:33,125
her website,
elizabeth cobs.com.

128
00:04:33,125 --> 00:04:34,549
Tonight's talk will last

129
00:04:34,549 --> 00:04:35,869
approximately 40 minutes

130
00:04:35,869 --> 00:04:36,890
and will be followed by

131
00:04:36,890 --> 00:04:39,035
a moderated Q&A session

132
00:04:39,035 --> 00:04:40,250
that will last
an additional

133
00:04:40,250 --> 00:04:41,930
15 to 20 minutes.

134
00:04:41,930 --> 00:04:43,280
The bottom of your screen,

135
00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:45,230
you'll find the
Q and A bubble.

136
00:04:45,230 --> 00:04:47,614
Please enter your
questions there.

137
00:04:47,614 --> 00:04:49,700
You may also upvote or

138
00:04:49,700 --> 00:04:51,814
like questions that
others have posed.

139
00:04:51,814 --> 00:04:54,050
And these will be
moderated by myself

140
00:04:54,050 --> 00:04:57,425
and answered by
Professor Cobbs.

141
00:04:57,425 --> 00:04:59,899
I hope you'll take the
opportunity to ask

142
00:04:59,899 --> 00:05:02,239
questions of her at
the end of the talk.

143
00:05:02,239 --> 00:05:03,259
Thank you very much for

144
00:05:03,259 --> 00:05:04,429
spending your
evening with us.

145
00:05:04,429 --> 00:05:05,659
I am now pleased
to introduce

146
00:05:05,659 --> 00:05:06,800
our speaker this evening,

147
00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:08,255
Professor Elizabeth Cobbs,

148
00:05:08,255 --> 00:05:09,379
who will be
presenting to us

149
00:05:09,379 --> 00:05:10,565
on the hello girls,

150
00:05:10,565 --> 00:05:12,604
America's first
women soldiers.

151
00:05:12,604 --> 00:05:13,430
Thank you.

152
00:05:13,430 --> 00:05:15,050
Well, thank you all so

153
00:05:15,050 --> 00:05:16,489
much for joining us today.

154
00:05:16,489 --> 00:05:18,350
And I really want
to thank very much

155
00:05:18,350 --> 00:05:19,940
John Stevens and John Ott

156
00:05:19,940 --> 00:05:21,935
and Andrea and Jeff Brown.

157
00:05:21,935 --> 00:05:23,960
Regenerative who have made

158
00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:25,339
me feel so welcome.

159
00:05:25,339 --> 00:05:28,550
And my only regret is
that I'm not there

160
00:05:28,550 --> 00:05:29,660
with you and
that we're not

161
00:05:29,660 --> 00:05:31,849
all sitting there no.

162
00:05:31,849 --> 00:05:34,130
Enjoying the moments in

163
00:05:34,130 --> 00:05:35,584
real time, so to speak.

164
00:05:35,584 --> 00:05:38,059
But isn't, isn't
Zoom great?

165
00:05:38,059 --> 00:05:39,649
At least we can do
something even though

166
00:05:39,649 --> 00:05:41,569
we're all feeling like
we're on house arrest.

167
00:05:41,569 --> 00:05:44,494
So I want to
talk about this.

168
00:05:44,494 --> 00:05:46,250
My book from a
couple of years ago

169
00:05:46,250 --> 00:05:47,719
called The hello girls.

170
00:05:47,719 --> 00:05:51,289
And I wrote it
came out in 2017.

171
00:05:51,289 --> 00:05:52,400
That came out actually on

172
00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:54,335
the anniversary of
the United States

173
00:05:54,335 --> 00:05:57,859
joining the allied
forces in World War One.

174
00:05:57,859 --> 00:05:59,630
And it's something I had

175
00:05:59,630 --> 00:06:01,249
taught as a professor,

176
00:06:01,249 --> 00:06:02,720
but I felt like I really

177
00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,109
wanted to
understand better.

178
00:06:05,109 --> 00:06:07,089
I wanted to understand
the war better.

179
00:06:07,089 --> 00:06:08,799
And I think that
for many Americans,

180
00:06:08,799 --> 00:06:09,820
freedom for myself as a

181
00:06:09,820 --> 00:06:11,200
professional historian,

182
00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,020
it's like we know
about World War one,

183
00:06:14,020 --> 00:06:15,459
mostly because it comes

184
00:06:15,459 --> 00:06:17,709
before World War Two
and we can all count.

185
00:06:17,709 --> 00:06:19,089
So if there's
a World War 2,

186
00:06:19,089 --> 00:06:20,934
there's gotta be
a world war one.

187
00:06:20,934 --> 00:06:23,020
And so that the
details of it,

188
00:06:23,020 --> 00:06:24,265
the pathos of it,

189
00:06:24,265 --> 00:06:27,099
the real meaning of
it for me anyway,

190
00:06:27,099 --> 00:06:28,629
and maybe for
some of you to,

191
00:06:28,629 --> 00:06:30,580
tends to get a
little overshadowed.

192
00:06:30,580 --> 00:06:33,010
And yet for many
world historians,

193
00:06:33,010 --> 00:06:34,150
they would say actually

194
00:06:34,150 --> 00:06:36,745
the big event is
World War One.

195
00:06:36,745 --> 00:06:39,819
And World War One sets
up the entire century.

196
00:06:39,819 --> 00:06:41,229
And, and yes, World

197
00:06:41,229 --> 00:06:42,490
War two as a part of that.

198
00:06:42,490 --> 00:06:44,380
But yeah, all of

199
00:06:44,380 --> 00:06:45,640
these big epic things

200
00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:47,070
go back to World War One.

201
00:06:47,070 --> 00:06:49,759
And so I was thinking
about a book to

202
00:06:49,759 --> 00:06:52,984
write in honor of
that anniversary.

203
00:06:52,984 --> 00:06:54,649
And initially I was
thinking, well, you know,

204
00:06:54,649 --> 00:06:55,129
there are all kinds

205
00:06:55,129 --> 00:06:56,419
of great familiar
subjects.

206
00:06:56,419 --> 00:06:57,860
I actually always wanted

207
00:06:57,860 --> 00:06:59,314
to write more on
Woodrow Wilson.

208
00:06:59,314 --> 00:07:01,249
I still think it's
slightly misunderstood,

209
00:07:01,249 --> 00:07:03,259
although not everyone
would agree.

210
00:07:03,259 --> 00:07:04,400
But then I thought, well,

211
00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:05,539
why not write
about something

212
00:07:05,539 --> 00:07:07,954
that maybe we don't
know much about?

213
00:07:07,954 --> 00:07:09,634
And there are three parts

214
00:07:09,634 --> 00:07:12,170
of this talk and away.

215
00:07:12,170 --> 00:07:14,120
The hello girls, these,

216
00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:15,769
these women soldiers I

217
00:07:15,769 --> 00:07:17,659
found gave me
insight into some of

218
00:07:17,659 --> 00:07:19,459
the biggest questions in

219
00:07:19,459 --> 00:07:22,445
the biggest consequences
of the World War.

220
00:07:22,445 --> 00:07:23,929
If you think about role,

221
00:07:23,929 --> 00:07:25,249
we're one of the
big things to know

222
00:07:25,249 --> 00:07:26,480
about it is that is

223
00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,160
the first
technological war.

224
00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:29,585
It's that war where

225
00:07:29,585 --> 00:07:31,370
all these fantastic things

226
00:07:31,370 --> 00:07:33,320
that are invented in
the 19th century,

227
00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,710
amazing innovations
really get systematically

228
00:07:36,710 --> 00:07:40,339
applied to our self
destruction as a species.

229
00:07:40,339 --> 00:07:43,084
Now that's something
that is still with us.

230
00:07:43,084 --> 00:07:44,510
So this is the
moment where

231
00:07:44,510 --> 00:07:47,689
that irony really
comes about and that,

232
00:07:47,689 --> 00:07:48,919
and the potential
what, how

233
00:07:48,919 --> 00:07:50,840
it shapes reshapes war.

234
00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:52,535
So that's one of
the big changes.

235
00:07:52,535 --> 00:07:55,325
The other big change
is that World War one

236
00:07:55,325 --> 00:07:57,440
is really the start of

237
00:07:57,440 --> 00:07:59,825
this kind of
breakdown of empires

238
00:07:59,825 --> 00:08:02,750
across the world and the,

239
00:08:02,750 --> 00:08:05,540
and the spread of
democracy worldwide.

240
00:08:05,540 --> 00:08:07,820
And even though yes, 1776

241
00:08:07,820 --> 00:08:09,650
is a start of that story,

242
00:08:09,650 --> 00:08:11,269
as is the French
Revolution,

243
00:08:11,269 --> 00:08:12,800
that it's really
World War One,

244
00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:14,315
that kind of sense.

245
00:08:14,315 --> 00:08:16,880
It disassembles
three major empires

246
00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:19,070
and it sends cracks
under the rest.

247
00:08:19,070 --> 00:08:21,169
So the British Empire
and the French Empire,

248
00:08:21,169 --> 00:08:22,220
which you who
are the winners,

249
00:08:22,220 --> 00:08:25,160
but ultimately in
many ways the losers.

250
00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,874
And so that's another
dimension of this,

251
00:08:27,874 --> 00:08:31,070
they technological
nature of the war.

252
00:08:31,070 --> 00:08:34,070
The fact that it
spreads Republicanism,

253
00:08:34,070 --> 00:08:35,524
we might say rural by

254
00:08:35,524 --> 00:08:37,969
citizen subjects rather
than by monarchs.

255
00:08:37,969 --> 00:08:40,430
The other thing that
World War one is notable

256
00:08:40,430 --> 00:08:43,715
for is the spread of
women's suffrage.

257
00:08:43,715 --> 00:08:45,844
And again, that's
something I think we,

258
00:08:45,844 --> 00:08:47,240
as Americans
tend to think of

259
00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:48,530
as a domestic topic.

260
00:08:48,530 --> 00:08:51,080
But really, women's
suffrage had been in

261
00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,019
a rut for 50, 60 years.

262
00:08:54,019 --> 00:08:55,729
And suddenly it's, it

263
00:08:55,729 --> 00:08:58,234
spreads worldwide
in World War 1.

264
00:08:58,234 --> 00:09:00,139
So again, this is
another important key

265
00:09:00,139 --> 00:09:01,729
to, to the whole subject.

266
00:09:01,729 --> 00:09:03,020
And then the other
thing is that I

267
00:09:03,020 --> 00:09:05,629
noticed as I was
working this up,

268
00:09:05,629 --> 00:09:07,235
as I realized
that women were

269
00:09:07,235 --> 00:09:10,910
soldiers before
they were voters.

270
00:09:10,910 --> 00:09:14,254
Now that sounds like
an odd ordering.

271
00:09:14,254 --> 00:09:15,919
Unless you remember
that that was

272
00:09:15,919 --> 00:09:18,020
true in the American
Revolution as well.

273
00:09:18,020 --> 00:09:20,930
Where men without
property,

274
00:09:20,930 --> 00:09:22,580
it's a result of the
American Revolution

275
00:09:22,580 --> 00:09:23,809
that men without
property begin

276
00:09:23,809 --> 00:09:25,339
to get the vote
as a result of

277
00:09:25,339 --> 00:09:26,329
the Civil War in which

278
00:09:26,329 --> 00:09:28,129
African American
men participate,

279
00:09:28,129 --> 00:09:29,434
that they get the vote.

280
00:09:29,434 --> 00:09:30,830
So that connection between

281
00:09:30,830 --> 00:09:33,484
war and voting has
always been there.

282
00:09:33,484 --> 00:09:34,789
And, and we get to see

283
00:09:34,789 --> 00:09:36,110
how that applies
for women.

284
00:09:36,110 --> 00:09:37,400
So what I want to do
is I want to share

285
00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:38,810
my screen and
this is where I

286
00:09:38,810 --> 00:09:41,719
get like a little anxious
because goodness,

287
00:09:41,719 --> 00:09:43,295
let, let, let me hope

288
00:09:43,295 --> 00:09:45,380
that I will do this right.

289
00:09:45,380 --> 00:09:48,680
And I will do
play from start.

290
00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:50,179
Guys are already
out at the start.

291
00:09:50,179 --> 00:09:52,505
So there you go.
This is the,

292
00:09:52,505 --> 00:09:55,115
the slideshow I want
to share with you.

293
00:09:55,115 --> 00:09:57,199
And we'll be talking
about the hello girls.

294
00:09:57,199 --> 00:09:58,820
Who are these women
as you see pictured

295
00:09:58,820 --> 00:10:00,890
here with General
John Pershing,

296
00:10:00,890 --> 00:10:01,984
who was the head
of the American

297
00:10:01,984 --> 00:10:04,775
Expeditionary
Forces in France.

298
00:10:04,775 --> 00:10:06,349
So to begin with,
we're going to talk a

299
00:10:06,349 --> 00:10:07,670
little bit about
women's suffrage

300
00:10:07,670 --> 00:10:10,969
because women's suffrage
Obviously pre-date.

301
00:10:10,969 --> 00:10:12,949
So the demand for women's
suffrage predates

302
00:10:12,949 --> 00:10:15,249
World War One
by quite a bit.

303
00:10:15,249 --> 00:10:16,600
In fact, the daughter

304
00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:18,609
of Elizabeth Cady Stanton,

305
00:10:18,609 --> 00:10:20,469
Harriet Stanton
Blache was her name.

306
00:10:20,469 --> 00:10:22,540
She said We felt
we are in a rut

307
00:10:22,540 --> 00:10:25,179
that had just gotten
worn deeper over time,

308
00:10:25,179 --> 00:10:26,350
just, you know,

309
00:10:26,350 --> 00:10:29,005
every decade that
the rut got deeper.

310
00:10:29,005 --> 00:10:31,330
And so the question
becomes, so why,

311
00:10:31,330 --> 00:10:33,760
why did people oppose
the vote for women?

312
00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,444
And how does this relate
to World War One?

313
00:10:36,444 --> 00:10:38,860
This is a picture
of Emily Pankhurst.

314
00:10:38,860 --> 00:10:40,810
You know, she's a
famous British suffrage

315
00:10:40,810 --> 00:10:43,059
as you see the British
lion on the right.

316
00:10:43,059 --> 00:10:45,369
So you know, she's
a London and this

317
00:10:45,369 --> 00:10:46,570
is a picture of
her being led

318
00:10:46,570 --> 00:10:48,445
away by the Bobby's.

319
00:10:48,445 --> 00:10:50,755
She was in a sense,

320
00:10:50,755 --> 00:10:52,480
represent helps
us to understand

321
00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:53,770
the international
dimensions

322
00:10:53,770 --> 00:10:54,820
of women's suffrage.

323
00:10:54,820 --> 00:10:56,745
And also why women were.

324
00:10:56,745 --> 00:10:58,475
Know what the
arguments were,

325
00:10:58,475 --> 00:11:00,350
four, for denying
women the vote.

326
00:11:00,350 --> 00:11:02,419
One of the principal
arguments, of course,

327
00:11:02,419 --> 00:11:04,759
was simply that it
was unnatural that

328
00:11:04,759 --> 00:11:05,810
women would lose

329
00:11:05,810 --> 00:11:07,669
their feminine
characteristics,

330
00:11:07,669 --> 00:11:08,929
that they would acquire

331
00:11:08,929 --> 00:11:10,640
the negative
characteristics of men

332
00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,069
and lose their
own special,

333
00:11:13,069 --> 00:11:16,130
special character
and was seen.

334
00:11:16,130 --> 00:11:17,959
But the other
important reason was

335
00:11:17,959 --> 00:11:19,744
because there was
the belief that

336
00:11:19,744 --> 00:11:21,860
government itself is in

337
00:11:21,860 --> 00:11:23,975
a sense based on
coercion, right?

338
00:11:23,975 --> 00:11:25,775
You defend your country.

339
00:11:25,775 --> 00:11:27,589
And if you're not a
part of that group of

340
00:11:27,589 --> 00:11:29,434
people who can
defend the country,

341
00:11:29,434 --> 00:11:30,770
any, if you're not a man

342
00:11:30,770 --> 00:11:32,179
who could join the Army,

343
00:11:32,179 --> 00:11:35,300
then it robs the nation

344
00:11:35,300 --> 00:11:36,620
itself of its ability to

345
00:11:36,620 --> 00:11:38,870
defend itself to
be a credible,

346
00:11:38,870 --> 00:11:42,080
I'm credible force in
international affairs.

347
00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:43,744
And especially with
World War one.

348
00:11:43,744 --> 00:11:45,050
I mean, it was
sort of the idea,

349
00:11:45,050 --> 00:11:47,269
even the last quarter
of the 19th century is

350
00:11:47,269 --> 00:11:48,739
a time of a lot
of conflict

351
00:11:48,739 --> 00:11:49,969
in world politics.

352
00:11:49,969 --> 00:11:51,199
And there's this
idea of, you know,

353
00:11:51,199 --> 00:11:52,864
we don't need
swooning damsels

354
00:11:52,864 --> 00:11:54,230
at a moment like this.

355
00:11:54,230 --> 00:11:55,640
So keeping women out of

356
00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:57,319
government had a
number of dimensions,

357
00:11:57,319 --> 00:11:58,849
but that was
certainly one,

358
00:11:58,849 --> 00:12:00,620
an important one
which is that women

359
00:12:00,620 --> 00:12:02,840
could not be soldiers.

360
00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:04,400
So that was Britain.

361
00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:06,079
This is a photograph from

362
00:12:06,079 --> 00:12:07,400
Washington DC and they

363
00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:09,485
first women's March
on Washington.

364
00:12:09,485 --> 00:12:11,419
But there were
subsequent ones

365
00:12:11,419 --> 00:12:12,724
in the last few years.

366
00:12:12,724 --> 00:12:14,449
But this is when
Woodrow Wilson

367
00:12:14,449 --> 00:12:16,729
was coming to
his inaugural,

368
00:12:16,729 --> 00:12:18,365
the day before
his inaugural.

369
00:12:18,365 --> 00:12:21,079
There was a massive
parade in 1913.

370
00:12:21,079 --> 00:12:23,419
And women who wanted
Woodrow Wilson

371
00:12:23,419 --> 00:12:25,639
to change his mind
about women's suffrage.

372
00:12:25,639 --> 00:12:28,189
But Woodrow Wilson was
a Democratic president

373
00:12:28,189 --> 00:12:30,530
and that itself as there's

374
00:12:30,530 --> 00:12:31,790
a reason why a democrat

375
00:12:31,790 --> 00:12:32,869
in office would be much

376
00:12:32,869 --> 00:12:34,040
less likely to support

377
00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:35,960
women's suffrage
at this time.

378
00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:37,699
But it was also
essentially

379
00:12:37,699 --> 00:12:38,840
he, like many people,

380
00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:40,655
including women,
said it even

381
00:12:40,655 --> 00:12:43,130
kinda chilled,
scandalized feeling.

382
00:12:43,130 --> 00:12:44,690
Now when he saw
women speaking in

383
00:12:44,690 --> 00:12:46,519
public and that
the sort of woman

384
00:12:46,519 --> 00:12:48,290
who would want the vote

385
00:12:48,290 --> 00:12:50,990
was somebody he
couldn't relate to.

386
00:12:50,990 --> 00:12:52,700
So these were
women who had

387
00:12:52,700 --> 00:12:53,810
been fighting
for a long time,

388
00:12:53,810 --> 00:12:56,585
but in a sense not
very successfully.

389
00:12:56,585 --> 00:12:58,685
Here's another
picture from the era.

390
00:12:58,685 --> 00:12:59,989
This is one of the
women who went

391
00:12:59,989 --> 00:13:01,264
on a hunger strike.

392
00:13:01,264 --> 00:13:03,815
Now, it's often
people will say,

393
00:13:03,815 --> 00:13:05,570
how did women
finally get the vote

394
00:13:05,570 --> 00:13:07,669
in the conversation
off and goes back to,

395
00:13:07,669 --> 00:13:09,800
well, Alice Paul came

396
00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:11,029
along with this
woman named

397
00:13:11,029 --> 00:13:12,770
Carrie Chapman CAD
and they picked up,

398
00:13:12,770 --> 00:13:15,170
we're Susan B. Anthony
had left, left off.

399
00:13:15,170 --> 00:13:17,090
And because of their
combined efforts

400
00:13:17,090 --> 00:13:18,080
and different approaches,

401
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:19,429
the vote finally
get through.

402
00:13:19,429 --> 00:13:20,749
Well, there's of course

403
00:13:20,749 --> 00:13:22,129
much to that and
I don't want

404
00:13:22,129 --> 00:13:25,174
any way to take
away from it.

405
00:13:25,174 --> 00:13:27,125
But the reason why

406
00:13:27,125 --> 00:13:29,389
people like Alice Paul
got the idea of doing

407
00:13:29,389 --> 00:13:31,355
things like this
woman is depicting

408
00:13:31,355 --> 00:13:32,659
being a hunger strike

409
00:13:32,659 --> 00:13:33,994
or just getting
out of prison?

410
00:13:33,994 --> 00:13:34,910
Is it because
they've learned

411
00:13:34,910 --> 00:13:35,990
it from the British.

412
00:13:35,990 --> 00:13:36,589
So there's

413
00:13:36,589 --> 00:13:38,240
an international
dimension to the story

414
00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:40,790
that's often really
under appreciated.

415
00:13:40,790 --> 00:13:42,500
All right, So
that brings us to

416
00:13:42,500 --> 00:13:43,880
the war because one
of the things to

417
00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:45,949
know about World
War One is that

418
00:13:45,949 --> 00:13:48,229
20 nations get the vote

419
00:13:48,229 --> 00:13:49,954
for women before
the United States.

420
00:13:49,954 --> 00:13:51,289
And almost all of them are

421
00:13:51,289 --> 00:13:53,029
belligerents in
World War one.

422
00:13:53,029 --> 00:13:54,439
So what is it about

423
00:13:54,439 --> 00:13:56,599
that or that
leads to that?

424
00:13:56,599 --> 00:13:58,489
So now we segue over to

425
00:13:58,489 --> 00:14:00,620
this sort of the nature
of the war itself.

426
00:14:00,620 --> 00:14:02,899
This was the first
industrial war.

427
00:14:02,899 --> 00:14:04,910
And one of the aspects

428
00:14:04,910 --> 00:14:06,169
of that, of course, is,

429
00:14:06,169 --> 00:14:09,065
is the use of mass
communications and more,

430
00:14:09,065 --> 00:14:11,194
which had a
tremendous impact

431
00:14:11,194 --> 00:14:12,799
on the efficacy of troops,

432
00:14:12,799 --> 00:14:15,155
especially spread out
over a wide area.

433
00:14:15,155 --> 00:14:16,520
Suddenly you can no longer

434
00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:18,379
just shout to
somebody or send

435
00:14:18,379 --> 00:14:19,819
a horse down the hill to

436
00:14:19,819 --> 00:14:22,010
give instructions
on what to do next.

437
00:14:22,010 --> 00:14:23,959
Instead, there were
all of these means

438
00:14:23,959 --> 00:14:26,000
for very quick
communication.

439
00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:27,829
Now the Signal Corps is

440
00:14:27,829 --> 00:14:30,665
the group that in
modern armies and

441
00:14:30,665 --> 00:14:33,739
modern armed forces

442
00:14:33,739 --> 00:14:35,720
facilitates communication.

443
00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:37,894
You'd think from this
particular photo,

444
00:14:37,894 --> 00:14:39,484
portrait from permeate

445
00:14:39,484 --> 00:14:41,194
poster from World War One,

446
00:14:41,194 --> 00:14:43,745
that radio is the
big deal, right?

447
00:14:43,745 --> 00:14:46,280
Yeah, radio. And it
certainly sounds like the

448
00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:48,934
most exciting and
technologically ambitious.

449
00:14:48,934 --> 00:14:50,719
But it's important to know

450
00:14:50,719 --> 00:14:52,475
that actually radio was

451
00:14:52,475 --> 00:14:56,209
still pretty funky
communications technology.

452
00:14:56,209 --> 00:14:58,055
To give you a
sense of this.

453
00:14:58,055 --> 00:15:00,230
Radio, first of
all, was very,

454
00:15:00,230 --> 00:15:01,280
wasn't a secure form

455
00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:04,070
a communications because
it was wireless.

456
00:15:04,070 --> 00:15:07,040
So someone else could
pick up your signal.

457
00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:08,974
And even if they
couldn't decode

458
00:15:08,974 --> 00:15:10,145
your, you know,

459
00:15:10,145 --> 00:15:11,809
your messages, they could

460
00:15:11,809 --> 00:15:14,179
tell from what area.

461
00:15:14,179 --> 00:15:15,529
Lots of messages are being

462
00:15:15,529 --> 00:15:17,314
beamed at the same time.

463
00:15:17,314 --> 00:15:18,890
Which would mean that
they could figure

464
00:15:18,890 --> 00:15:20,329
out where your
headquarters wasn't,

465
00:15:20,329 --> 00:15:22,324
then they could bomb
you were, you know,

466
00:15:22,324 --> 00:15:25,325
try to in some way
damage the headquarters.

467
00:15:25,325 --> 00:15:26,839
Headquarters. So radio

468
00:15:26,839 --> 00:15:28,130
wasn't a very
secure form of

469
00:15:28,130 --> 00:15:32,435
communication and also
was not particularly,

470
00:15:32,435 --> 00:15:35,494
was not particularly
adaptable,

471
00:15:35,494 --> 00:15:37,129
are easy to use.

472
00:15:37,129 --> 00:15:38,330
To give you a
sense of this,

473
00:15:38,330 --> 00:15:40,310
it would take three mules,

474
00:15:40,310 --> 00:15:44,689
drag a radial field
set out to the,

475
00:15:44,689 --> 00:15:46,579
to the front so they know

476
00:15:46,579 --> 00:15:49,219
to get it there and
set it up was hard.

477
00:15:49,219 --> 00:15:52,279
And then the other
problem with the radio is

478
00:15:52,279 --> 00:15:53,809
that radio at
this time did

479
00:15:53,809 --> 00:15:55,744
not yet carry voices.

480
00:15:55,744 --> 00:15:57,259
So it wasn't
until the very,

481
00:15:57,259 --> 00:15:58,399
very end of the war

482
00:15:58,399 --> 00:15:59,960
that people
experimenting and

483
00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:01,250
radio learned how to

484
00:16:01,250 --> 00:16:03,200
convey voices over radio.

485
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:04,609
Instead, for
most of the war,

486
00:16:04,609 --> 00:16:08,060
it was essentially a
wireless telegraph.

487
00:16:08,060 --> 00:16:09,349
And so people would send

488
00:16:09,349 --> 00:16:11,150
messages in Morse code.

489
00:16:11,150 --> 00:16:12,739
So think of the contrast.

490
00:16:12,739 --> 00:16:14,539
A telephone is something

491
00:16:14,539 --> 00:16:16,130
that it was so adaptable.

492
00:16:16,130 --> 00:16:17,449
You could take a wire,

493
00:16:17,449 --> 00:16:19,429
you could run it
out over a field.

494
00:16:19,429 --> 00:16:22,489
A man holding a
spool of wire could,

495
00:16:22,489 --> 00:16:24,934
could extend the reach
of communications.

496
00:16:24,934 --> 00:16:26,539
So that was very easy.

497
00:16:26,539 --> 00:16:28,235
It was very much quicker,

498
00:16:28,235 --> 00:16:30,530
was much more
secure to if you

499
00:16:30,530 --> 00:16:31,730
wanted to find
out what somebody

500
00:16:31,730 --> 00:16:32,840
was saying on
the telephone,

501
00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,015
you had to tap their line.

502
00:16:35,015 --> 00:16:36,665
Now I'm sure there's

503
00:16:36,665 --> 00:16:38,420
some people in the
audience are going to be

504
00:16:38,420 --> 00:16:40,250
old enough that I

505
00:16:40,250 --> 00:16:42,740
remember years ago
when I was a kid and

506
00:16:42,740 --> 00:16:44,479
there'd be telephones
in different parts of

507
00:16:44,479 --> 00:16:46,069
the house and
you could hear

508
00:16:46,069 --> 00:16:47,885
when somebody else
lifted up the line,

509
00:16:47,885 --> 00:16:50,134
you knew somebody
was listening in.

510
00:16:50,134 --> 00:16:51,920
Similarly at that time,

511
00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:52,699
they could tell if

512
00:16:52,699 --> 00:16:53,809
somebody was
tapping a line,

513
00:16:53,809 --> 00:16:55,459
at least add some
indication of it.

514
00:16:55,459 --> 00:16:56,629
And also it was hard to

515
00:16:56,629 --> 00:16:57,814
find the specific line,

516
00:16:57,814 --> 00:16:59,705
unlike a wireless
telegraph.

517
00:16:59,705 --> 00:17:01,774
So rate, so tell me.

518
00:17:01,774 --> 00:17:04,820
So telephone, which much

519
00:17:04,820 --> 00:17:06,260
more secure and much

520
00:17:06,260 --> 00:17:08,120
more flexible than radio.

521
00:17:08,120 --> 00:17:09,979
And the other
thing, of course,

522
00:17:09,979 --> 00:17:12,019
was simply that because
radio didn't carry

523
00:17:12,019 --> 00:17:14,389
voices only
Morse code emit.

524
00:17:14,389 --> 00:17:15,020
You did not have

525
00:17:15,020 --> 00:17:16,550
the spontaneous
communication

526
00:17:16,550 --> 00:17:18,109
that was possible
with, with a,

527
00:17:18,109 --> 00:17:19,909
with a telephone
where you could be

528
00:17:19,909 --> 00:17:21,800
sure that what you

529
00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:23,450
said would be heard

530
00:17:23,450 --> 00:17:25,925
but correctly by the
person on the other end.

531
00:17:25,925 --> 00:17:28,339
So what this meant is
during World War One,

532
00:17:28,339 --> 00:17:30,889
tell telephones become
the primary means

533
00:17:30,889 --> 00:17:32,720
of communication
for everybody.

534
00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,630
So here you see a
German dug out in

535
00:17:35,630 --> 00:17:38,659
a German trench basically.

536
00:17:38,659 --> 00:17:39,890
And the guy on the
left here, What's

537
00:17:39,890 --> 00:17:41,344
he doing? He's
on the phone.

538
00:17:41,344 --> 00:17:45,260
Because every command
to advance or cease

539
00:17:45,260 --> 00:17:48,980
fire or to change
your troop position,

540
00:17:48,980 --> 00:17:51,470
any of that stuff
came over the radio.

541
00:17:51,470 --> 00:17:53,509
Even people were getting

542
00:17:53,509 --> 00:17:55,729
radio messages when they

543
00:17:55,729 --> 00:17:57,200
before they got on
their plane sun,

544
00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:58,820
if anybody remembers
Eddie Rickenbacker,

545
00:17:58,820 --> 00:18:00,470
who was the great
American ace

546
00:18:00,470 --> 00:18:01,219
of World War One.

547
00:18:01,219 --> 00:18:02,930
And he spoke
about waiting by

548
00:18:02,930 --> 00:18:04,789
the phone at the airfield

549
00:18:04,789 --> 00:18:06,470
to get his commands.

550
00:18:06,470 --> 00:18:08,119
Similarly, this
is a picture

551
00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:09,469
from the Japanese
who were a

552
00:18:09,469 --> 00:18:11,029
belligerent on the side of

553
00:18:11,029 --> 00:18:14,165
the allied forces
in World War One.

554
00:18:14,165 --> 00:18:16,369
Obviously pretty different
in World War II.

555
00:18:16,369 --> 00:18:18,080
But on the right-hand
side you see

556
00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:19,940
a man right, waiting
for the call.

557
00:18:19,940 --> 00:18:21,829
Do we fire that
artillery or not,

558
00:18:21,829 --> 00:18:24,094
or are we hitting
our own men?

559
00:18:24,094 --> 00:18:26,090
Are friendly fire problem.

560
00:18:26,090 --> 00:18:28,999
So telephones were
extraordinarily important.

561
00:18:28,999 --> 00:18:30,469
They were in all
of the trenches.

562
00:18:30,469 --> 00:18:32,179
They weren't all
of the artillery

563
00:18:32,179 --> 00:18:33,619
about placements.

564
00:18:33,619 --> 00:18:35,614
They were at the
airfields, et cetera.

565
00:18:35,614 --> 00:18:37,459
So getting worried
and getting a quickly

566
00:18:37,459 --> 00:18:39,515
and accurately was
extremely important,

567
00:18:39,515 --> 00:18:40,999
especially toward
that strung

568
00:18:40,999 --> 00:18:42,410
over a large area.

569
00:18:42,410 --> 00:18:44,449
So this gives you a sense
of how it was done.

570
00:18:44,449 --> 00:18:46,009
This is actually, these

571
00:18:46,009 --> 00:18:49,760
are Bell Telephone
lineman.

572
00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,010
The way this worked
is the United States

573
00:18:52,010 --> 00:18:53,419
had no large
standing army.

574
00:18:53,419 --> 00:18:54,469
We still had one of

575
00:18:54,469 --> 00:18:56,465
the smallest or
reason the world and

576
00:18:56,465 --> 00:18:58,310
before a World
War One and had

577
00:18:58,310 --> 00:19:00,244
never really fought
anybody else's war.

578
00:19:00,244 --> 00:19:01,865
Now, we'd fought
our own wars,

579
00:19:01,865 --> 00:19:03,169
but we never volunteer

580
00:19:03,169 --> 00:19:04,069
to help any males fight.

581
00:19:04,069 --> 00:19:05,390
There's, so this was

582
00:19:05,390 --> 00:19:07,219
another big change
of that war.

583
00:19:07,219 --> 00:19:08,989
And one consequences
that we

584
00:19:08,989 --> 00:19:10,895
really did not have
the, you know,

585
00:19:10,895 --> 00:19:14,255
the technological
expertise

586
00:19:14,255 --> 00:19:15,530
within the
government itself.

587
00:19:15,530 --> 00:19:16,835
And so one of the
things that happened

588
00:19:16,835 --> 00:19:18,260
is that the US Army went

589
00:19:18,260 --> 00:19:20,360
to major corporations like

590
00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:21,545
Bell Telephone and said,

591
00:19:21,545 --> 00:19:24,664
we'd like to induct
your men as units.

592
00:19:24,664 --> 00:19:27,050
So they would take people
from say, Portland,

593
00:19:27,050 --> 00:19:28,250
Oregon who had worked

594
00:19:28,250 --> 00:19:30,079
together for 15
or 20 years.

595
00:19:30,079 --> 00:19:30,739
They put them in

596
00:19:30,739 --> 00:19:32,479
the same uniform
and send them over

597
00:19:32,479 --> 00:19:35,090
to France as
bell battalions.

598
00:19:35,090 --> 00:19:37,385
This shows men
running lines into

599
00:19:37,385 --> 00:19:39,694
about one of the battles
on the Somme River.

600
00:19:39,694 --> 00:19:41,915
So this is near the
Somme River in France,

601
00:19:41,915 --> 00:19:43,339
and they're running

602
00:19:43,339 --> 00:19:44,614
their lines into it
and that's how it,

603
00:19:44,614 --> 00:19:47,584
telephone messages
got now forwarded.

604
00:19:47,584 --> 00:19:49,039
The other thing
about, of course,

605
00:19:49,039 --> 00:19:51,245
this could be very
dangerous work.

606
00:19:51,245 --> 00:19:52,640
One of the good
things about

607
00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:53,720
telephones is
that you could

608
00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:55,759
repair the wires if
they got bombed out,

609
00:19:55,759 --> 00:19:56,929
but the bad news was

610
00:19:56,929 --> 00:19:58,355
that she actually
had to go do it.

611
00:19:58,355 --> 00:20:01,639
So these are guys
under GAS yes.

612
00:20:01,639 --> 00:20:04,279
Attack who are fixing,
align and, uh,

613
00:20:04,279 --> 00:20:05,839
and sometimes the
descriptions of

614
00:20:05,839 --> 00:20:08,180
these men who'd be
running across craters,

615
00:20:08,180 --> 00:20:10,940
jumping from Crater to
cratered fixed line.

616
00:20:10,940 --> 00:20:12,320
Because if that line

617
00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:14,435
breaks at that line
gets blown up,

618
00:20:14,435 --> 00:20:17,039
you know, you're
in a real fix.

619
00:20:17,230 --> 00:20:19,955
So what this meant

620
00:20:19,955 --> 00:20:21,995
is that this is
a new technology

621
00:20:21,995 --> 00:20:23,810
and this technology
is going to have

622
00:20:23,810 --> 00:20:26,524
impact on who actually
fights the war.

623
00:20:26,524 --> 00:20:28,129
So one of the things
that was really

624
00:20:28,129 --> 00:20:29,960
apparent immediately
to John Pershing,

625
00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:31,550
who looks like
he's sent from

626
00:20:31,550 --> 00:20:33,169
central casting and areas.

627
00:20:33,169 --> 00:20:35,810
Another great chin
and good hair,

628
00:20:35,810 --> 00:20:37,820
the hair, that stuff.

629
00:20:37,820 --> 00:20:40,760
Nice, tall man. He's
standing there in

630
00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:41,990
France and he's
being looked up

631
00:20:41,990 --> 00:20:43,699
to by Newton Baker,

632
00:20:43,699 --> 00:20:45,275
who was the US Secretary

633
00:20:45,275 --> 00:20:47,749
of War in charge
of the army.

634
00:20:47,749 --> 00:20:50,330
And Pershing discovers
right away that

635
00:20:50,330 --> 00:20:51,499
one of the big problems he

636
00:20:51,499 --> 00:20:52,985
has when it
gets to France,

637
00:20:52,985 --> 00:20:55,894
as it, he tries to
make a phone call.

638
00:20:55,894 --> 00:20:58,220
And it doesn't
really go anywhere.

639
00:20:58,220 --> 00:20:59,539
Because this is one of

640
00:20:59,539 --> 00:21:01,335
those early sex segregated

641
00:21:01,335 --> 00:21:03,305
industrial occupations

642
00:21:03,305 --> 00:21:04,970
where women in the
United States are

643
00:21:04,970 --> 00:21:07,535
the primary
telephone operators.

644
00:21:07,535 --> 00:21:10,010
And every part of
the telephone,

645
00:21:10,010 --> 00:21:12,934
telephone system comes
back to an operator.

646
00:21:12,934 --> 00:21:14,615
Now this is a period
of time in which

647
00:21:14,615 --> 00:21:16,910
phones do not have dials.

648
00:21:16,910 --> 00:21:19,204
Essentially to make
a phone call you,

649
00:21:19,204 --> 00:21:20,779
you take your what was
called the candlestick

650
00:21:20,779 --> 00:21:22,219
phone and you lift
the receiver and

651
00:21:22,219 --> 00:21:23,569
you put a tree ear
and that would

652
00:21:23,569 --> 00:21:25,850
track trigger an
electrical charge that

653
00:21:25,850 --> 00:21:26,989
went down the line and let

654
00:21:26,989 --> 00:21:30,049
the operator down
down the road,

655
00:21:30,049 --> 00:21:31,519
so to speak, know

656
00:21:31,519 --> 00:21:33,155
that you were trying
to make a call

657
00:21:33,155 --> 00:21:34,729
and the operator
would then

658
00:21:34,729 --> 00:21:36,904
transfer the call
are appropriately,

659
00:21:36,904 --> 00:21:38,450
you plug it in

660
00:21:38,450 --> 00:21:40,624
to the to the person
you're trying to reach.

661
00:21:40,624 --> 00:21:41,959
Well, the problem
is if you're in

662
00:21:41,959 --> 00:21:43,999
France and you wanted

663
00:21:43,999 --> 00:21:45,860
to make what was then
called a toll call,

664
00:21:45,860 --> 00:21:47,330
which meant you
were going farther

665
00:21:47,330 --> 00:21:49,009
in some short distance.

666
00:21:49,009 --> 00:21:50,810
Let's say you're
going to 100 miles.

667
00:21:50,810 --> 00:21:52,639
You're going to have to
go through series of

668
00:21:52,639 --> 00:21:54,110
operators one-by-one

669
00:21:54,110 --> 00:21:55,835
who will transfer
this call.

670
00:21:55,835 --> 00:21:57,469
Now, in a foreign country,

671
00:21:57,469 --> 00:21:59,660
you are going to get
foreign operators.

672
00:21:59,660 --> 00:22:02,150
So, so John Pershing

673
00:22:02,150 --> 00:22:03,469
was having a problem
not only because

674
00:22:03,469 --> 00:22:04,760
as the men they
were training

675
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:06,319
weren't used to
this occupation and

676
00:22:06,319 --> 00:22:08,269
thought it was kind of
a girl job and some of

677
00:22:08,269 --> 00:22:10,565
them are resistant to
it for that reason.

678
00:22:10,565 --> 00:22:13,339
But also these men
did not parlay Bu.

679
00:22:13,339 --> 00:22:15,454
So you had these American
dough boys who are

680
00:22:15,454 --> 00:22:16,609
struggling to connect with

681
00:22:16,609 --> 00:22:18,575
French toll operators.

682
00:22:18,575 --> 00:22:19,730
Because the United States,

683
00:22:19,730 --> 00:22:21,259
it wasn't entirely
US system.

684
00:22:21,259 --> 00:22:23,300
You had a system
set up by the army

685
00:22:23,300 --> 00:22:24,349
that had to communicate

686
00:22:24,349 --> 00:22:26,149
through foreign wires.

687
00:22:26,149 --> 00:22:28,879
So Newton Baker resisted

688
00:22:28,879 --> 00:22:31,789
the idea of they didn't
want to use women.

689
00:22:31,789 --> 00:22:34,234
I mean, this was
against all tradition.

690
00:22:34,234 --> 00:22:35,899
The roles in which
they were used to

691
00:22:35,899 --> 00:22:37,699
seeing females were
rolls like this.

692
00:22:37,699 --> 00:22:39,859
And these are World War
1 propaganda posters,

693
00:22:39,859 --> 00:22:40,250
you know,

694
00:22:40,250 --> 00:22:42,050
when the knitting or women

695
00:22:42,050 --> 00:22:44,749
canning goods so
that to free up food

696
00:22:44,749 --> 00:22:46,190
to go to France or nurses

697
00:22:46,190 --> 00:22:47,359
holding up their end

698
00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:48,980
and mommy's

699
00:22:48,980 --> 00:22:51,260
selling war bonds, all
of that kind of thing.

700
00:22:51,260 --> 00:22:53,029
So he very much

701
00:22:53,029 --> 00:22:55,190
resisted the idea
of using them.

702
00:22:55,190 --> 00:22:57,079
And in part of
this goes back to

703
00:22:57,079 --> 00:22:59,569
that reason for not
having Women's Suffrage.

704
00:22:59,569 --> 00:23:01,459
Which is that if

705
00:23:01,459 --> 00:23:02,944
women are doing
these kind of

706
00:23:02,944 --> 00:23:05,480
public roles isn't going

707
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,505
to kind of damage
womanhood.

708
00:23:07,505 --> 00:23:09,905
Isn't a woman who
would do that,

709
00:23:09,905 --> 00:23:11,660
kind of suspect herself.

710
00:23:11,660 --> 00:23:12,590
Maybe she's one
of these kind

711
00:23:12,590 --> 00:23:14,239
of very weird feminists.

712
00:23:14,239 --> 00:23:17,270
Maybe she's even like
a flu z or something.

713
00:23:17,270 --> 00:23:18,260
And there was a
lot of concern

714
00:23:18,260 --> 00:23:19,310
if they had women around

715
00:23:19,310 --> 00:23:21,170
these military bases that

716
00:23:21,170 --> 00:23:24,029
it would be bad for
the morality of men.

717
00:23:24,100 --> 00:23:26,510
So of course, there were

718
00:23:26,510 --> 00:23:29,599
some precedence
historically for

719
00:23:29,599 --> 00:23:31,685
women doing more
than just knitting.

720
00:23:31,685 --> 00:23:33,229
And this was
one of the most

721
00:23:33,229 --> 00:23:35,390
powerful and
compelling posters

722
00:23:35,390 --> 00:23:37,384
in of the era,

723
00:23:37,384 --> 00:23:39,055
Joan of Arc, say
France, you know,

724
00:23:39,055 --> 00:23:41,720
so women can help by
selling war bonds.

725
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:43,579
And initially that
was sort of the idea,

726
00:23:43,579 --> 00:23:44,749
but you have to remember,

727
00:23:44,749 --> 00:23:46,970
of course, these
women were fighting,

728
00:23:46,970 --> 00:23:48,739
these people were
fighting in France.

729
00:23:48,739 --> 00:23:50,779
So this particular
poster had a lot of

730
00:23:50,779 --> 00:23:54,125
resonance in the context
of the war overall.

731
00:23:54,125 --> 00:23:55,880
And also they
were fighting

732
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:57,964
over Lorraine Lauren.

733
00:23:57,964 --> 00:23:59,795
So this is the
maid of Lauren,

734
00:23:59,795 --> 00:24:02,540
the woman who in Francis

735
00:24:02,540 --> 00:24:04,550
great crisis
centuries before

736
00:24:04,550 --> 00:24:06,350
had, had come
to the rescue.

737
00:24:06,350 --> 00:24:08,960
So now the interesting
thing is that there

738
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,299
were differences of
opinion about this.

739
00:24:11,299 --> 00:24:14,719
And in fact, the
Navy was not

740
00:24:14,719 --> 00:24:16,550
resistant in the same way

741
00:24:16,550 --> 00:24:18,740
that the army
was to thinking,

742
00:24:18,740 --> 00:24:20,389
this is a new war.

743
00:24:20,389 --> 00:24:22,100
It has new technologies.

744
00:24:22,100 --> 00:24:23,644
We need people
who can command

745
00:24:23,644 --> 00:24:25,399
these technologies
and that

746
00:24:25,399 --> 00:24:27,215
just happens to be women.

747
00:24:27,215 --> 00:24:29,389
So the Navy had

748
00:24:29,389 --> 00:24:31,370
a rather different
attitude towards it.

749
00:24:31,370 --> 00:24:33,380
And Josephus Daniels was

750
00:24:33,380 --> 00:24:36,095
the name of the US
Secretary of the Navy.

751
00:24:36,095 --> 00:24:39,410
His mother had been
a suffragists,

752
00:24:39,410 --> 00:24:41,179
and his wife was
the suffragists,

753
00:24:41,179 --> 00:24:42,244
and his mother
had raised him

754
00:24:42,244 --> 00:24:43,610
alone on her own after

755
00:24:43,610 --> 00:24:46,670
the Civil War in which
his father was killed.

756
00:24:46,670 --> 00:24:49,039
And so he actually went to

757
00:24:49,039 --> 00:24:50,150
his counsel and he said

758
00:24:50,150 --> 00:24:51,829
isn't possible, can
we recruit women?

759
00:24:51,829 --> 00:24:53,629
And the legal counsel

760
00:24:53,629 --> 00:24:55,130
scratched his
head and said,

761
00:24:55,130 --> 00:24:57,124
Well, I don't, I
don't see why not.

762
00:24:57,124 --> 00:24:59,480
So actually the navy
began and ducting

763
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:04,085
women even before
the US declared war.

764
00:25:04,085 --> 00:25:06,019
So looking down the road,

765
00:25:06,019 --> 00:25:07,190
the Navy could
see that they

766
00:25:07,190 --> 00:25:08,599
were probably going
to need women.

767
00:25:08,599 --> 00:25:10,369
Now this was
early in 1917,

768
00:25:10,369 --> 00:25:11,150
only couple of months

769
00:25:11,150 --> 00:25:12,679
before the war broke out.

770
00:25:12,679 --> 00:25:14,359
But they could see
the handwriting

771
00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:15,799
on the wall, the Marines,

772
00:25:15,799 --> 00:25:17,345
which of course
this poster

773
00:25:17,345 --> 00:25:18,620
is from the US Marines,

774
00:25:18,620 --> 00:25:20,810
which was the
division of the Navy,

775
00:25:20,810 --> 00:25:22,939
shows that the
Marines also

776
00:25:22,939 --> 00:25:24,950
began inducting
money because

777
00:25:24,950 --> 00:25:26,779
they thought
that women were

778
00:25:26,779 --> 00:25:28,775
going to really
be needed to,

779
00:25:28,775 --> 00:25:29,989
largely in their case, to

780
00:25:29,989 --> 00:25:31,310
free up men to go abroad,

781
00:25:31,310 --> 00:25:33,094
whereas the women would
all stay at home.

782
00:25:33,094 --> 00:25:34,010
And that was true in

783
00:25:34,010 --> 00:25:35,284
the Navy and the Marines.

784
00:25:35,284 --> 00:25:36,740
All of the women who were

785
00:25:36,740 --> 00:25:38,315
inducted, which are
quite a number,

786
00:25:38,315 --> 00:25:40,280
ended up staying
state side

787
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,099
to take jobs that men
would otherwise do.

788
00:25:43,099 --> 00:25:45,350
Now the Americans were
not the only ones

789
00:25:45,350 --> 00:25:46,970
who are sort of thinking
along these lines.

790
00:25:46,970 --> 00:25:50,735
And in fact, the
British who,

791
00:25:50,735 --> 00:25:52,219
as you know, if you

792
00:25:52,219 --> 00:25:53,809
know much at all
about World War 1,

793
00:25:53,809 --> 00:25:56,780
they really had their
backs to the wall.

794
00:25:56,780 --> 00:25:58,939
There was concern that

795
00:25:58,939 --> 00:26:01,384
Germany could
invade England.

796
00:26:01,384 --> 00:26:06,500
The French were in
great real straits.

797
00:26:06,500 --> 00:26:08,509
And, and, and the
British, of course,

798
00:26:08,509 --> 00:26:09,470
we're just losing

799
00:26:09,470 --> 00:26:11,014
hundreds of
thousands of men.

800
00:26:11,014 --> 00:26:13,474
You may remember,
whenever you

801
00:26:13,474 --> 00:26:14,599
try to think of like how

802
00:26:14,599 --> 00:26:16,400
bad World War one was,

803
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:17,690
It's important to remember

804
00:26:17,690 --> 00:26:18,530
that for the British,

805
00:26:18,530 --> 00:26:20,869
they lost more
combat soldiers in

806
00:26:20,869 --> 00:26:24,229
World War 1 than
in World War II.

807
00:26:24,229 --> 00:26:27,185
Also, for those of
you who are Lords,

808
00:26:27,185 --> 00:26:28,894
Lord of the Rings fans,

809
00:26:28,894 --> 00:26:32,120
JRR Tolkien was a
Signal Corps man.

810
00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:33,485
So the branch of the

811
00:26:33,485 --> 00:26:35,494
armed forces we're
talking about tonight.

812
00:26:35,494 --> 00:26:38,074
He was a signal Corps
man in World War One,

813
00:26:38,074 --> 00:26:40,489
and he devised his view

814
00:26:40,489 --> 00:26:42,425
of the landscapes
of Mordor.

815
00:26:42,425 --> 00:26:44,914
Okay, a little popular
movie thing here.

816
00:26:44,914 --> 00:26:46,820
But he said he

817
00:26:46,820 --> 00:26:48,904
remembered what
France looked like.

818
00:26:48,904 --> 00:26:51,709
So the idea of the
absolute devastation,

819
00:26:51,709 --> 00:26:54,099
that complete ruin of

820
00:26:54,099 --> 00:26:57,815
nature was from his
experience in France.

821
00:26:57,815 --> 00:26:59,539
So the British decided

822
00:26:59,539 --> 00:27:01,220
around the same time
as the Americans,

823
00:27:01,220 --> 00:27:02,570
actually slightly later,

824
00:27:02,570 --> 00:27:04,369
slightly later
than the US Army,

825
00:27:04,369 --> 00:27:07,260
but apparently
the US Navy.

826
00:27:07,260 --> 00:27:09,880
They decided to
enroll women as well.

827
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:11,245
And this was of course,
is what's called

828
00:27:11,245 --> 00:27:12,879
Queen Mary's Army
Auxiliary Corps.

829
00:27:12,879 --> 00:27:15,894
Now initially it wasn't
called Queen Mary's,

830
00:27:15,894 --> 00:27:17,529
but it came to be adopted.

831
00:27:17,529 --> 00:27:20,305
Is that because there
was this idea that

832
00:27:20,305 --> 00:27:24,399
a woman who would do
this must not be a lady.

833
00:27:24,399 --> 00:27:26,590
And, and so there was,

834
00:27:26,590 --> 00:27:28,660
it was honestly a
kind of suspicion.

835
00:27:28,660 --> 00:27:30,579
And there were 80 thousand

836
00:27:30,579 --> 00:27:31,870
British women who served

837
00:27:31,870 --> 00:27:33,339
in France and back

838
00:27:33,339 --> 00:27:35,514
home and state-side
noon in the,

839
00:27:35,514 --> 00:27:37,659
on the island of
Great Britain itself.

840
00:27:37,659 --> 00:27:39,249
But 80 thousand women.

841
00:27:39,249 --> 00:27:40,959
Now, by the way,
they were not

842
00:27:40,959 --> 00:27:43,629
allowed to salute
or be saluted.

843
00:27:43,629 --> 00:27:45,849
So here they are
wearing army uniforms

844
00:27:45,849 --> 00:27:47,245
and risking their lives.

845
00:27:47,245 --> 00:27:48,220
And ultimately that's why

846
00:27:48,220 --> 00:27:49,934
Queen Mary adopted them.

847
00:27:49,934 --> 00:27:51,289
When a group of women,

848
00:27:51,289 --> 00:27:52,699
I think was nine
women were blown

849
00:27:52,699 --> 00:27:55,414
up with French
bombs in France,

850
00:27:55,414 --> 00:27:57,425
permeate german
bombs in France.

851
00:27:57,425 --> 00:27:59,149
And so she took it upon

852
00:27:59,149 --> 00:28:00,905
herself to say,
no, this is,

853
00:28:00,905 --> 00:28:02,180
this is a patriotic

854
00:28:02,180 --> 00:28:03,739
and in fact virtuous thing

855
00:28:03,739 --> 00:28:05,809
to be doing as a woman.

856
00:28:05,809 --> 00:28:08,329
So this takes us back to

857
00:28:08,329 --> 00:28:10,670
the US Army so that
Marines are doing it,

858
00:28:10,670 --> 00:28:11,809
then the Navy's willing to

859
00:28:11,809 --> 00:28:13,039
do at the British are
willing to do it.

860
00:28:13,039 --> 00:28:14,390
But the armies like now,

861
00:28:14,390 --> 00:28:18,590
we have women, an EEG ads.

862
00:28:18,590 --> 00:28:19,835
But the problem is that

863
00:28:19,835 --> 00:28:21,049
this is what they
were up against.

864
00:28:21,049 --> 00:28:23,344
This is actually a
picture domestically

865
00:28:23,344 --> 00:28:26,630
of agent of an AT and
T office at the time.

866
00:28:26,630 --> 00:28:28,460
And as you see,
it's women who

867
00:28:28,460 --> 00:28:30,020
were staffing

868
00:28:30,020 --> 00:28:31,790
the telephone lines
and they're very,

869
00:28:31,790 --> 00:28:32,885
very good at it.

870
00:28:32,885 --> 00:28:34,489
It turns out nobody quite

871
00:28:34,489 --> 00:28:36,709
knows why they are
so adept at it.

872
00:28:36,709 --> 00:28:38,900
I mean, later, decades
later people say,

873
00:28:38,900 --> 00:28:40,864
Well maybe women
multitask better.

874
00:28:40,864 --> 00:28:42,875
But it's a very,
very difficult,

875
00:28:42,875 --> 00:28:44,300
very stressful,

876
00:28:44,300 --> 00:28:46,474
very high paced occupation

877
00:28:46,474 --> 00:28:48,049
as it was practiced
at that time.

878
00:28:48,049 --> 00:28:49,369
Because a person
He had to be

879
00:28:49,369 --> 00:28:50,839
listening to one
conversation in

880
00:28:50,839 --> 00:28:52,130
one area and you had to be

881
00:28:52,130 --> 00:28:53,389
constantly switching and

882
00:28:53,389 --> 00:28:54,589
you had to make notes

883
00:28:54,589 --> 00:28:55,969
as to how long the call,

884
00:28:55,969 --> 00:28:57,259
as you see some of
the women making

885
00:28:57,259 --> 00:28:58,835
notes in the front,

886
00:28:58,835 --> 00:29:00,139
they're also trying
to listen to

887
00:29:00,139 --> 00:29:01,369
whether somebody's
off the line.

888
00:29:01,369 --> 00:29:02,479
So they're sweeping
the boards,

889
00:29:02,479 --> 00:29:04,685
taking calls that are done

890
00:29:04,685 --> 00:29:07,384
off while we're still
fielding new calls.

891
00:29:07,384 --> 00:29:08,929
And so they're,
they're making

892
00:29:08,929 --> 00:29:11,300
just countless
numbers of calls.

893
00:29:11,300 --> 00:29:13,625
In fact, what the
army discovered,

894
00:29:13,625 --> 00:29:15,800
the problem for
the army was this,

895
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:17,629
that it took the
average Joe Boy

896
00:29:17,629 --> 00:29:18,710
trained as an operator.

897
00:29:18,710 --> 00:29:22,054
It took him 60 seconds
to connect to call.

898
00:29:22,054 --> 00:29:23,554
60 seconds a minute.

899
00:29:23,554 --> 00:29:26,090
It took the average
female Operator

900
00:29:26,090 --> 00:29:28,834
10 seconds to
connect to call.

901
00:29:28,834 --> 00:29:30,410
So in war time,

902
00:29:30,410 --> 00:29:31,820
when someone is
shooting at you

903
00:29:31,820 --> 00:29:33,484
and trying to kill you,

904
00:29:33,484 --> 00:29:35,569
the difference
between 60 seconds

905
00:29:35,569 --> 00:29:38,105
and 10 seconds your life.

906
00:29:38,105 --> 00:29:40,220
And then if you
multiply that out

907
00:29:40,220 --> 00:29:42,064
over the number of
people doing the job,

908
00:29:42,064 --> 00:29:43,159
over the number
of months that

909
00:29:43,159 --> 00:29:44,660
the US is in France.

910
00:29:44,660 --> 00:29:46,640
I mean, by the end,
these women will have

911
00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,070
May 26 million
connections.

912
00:29:49,070 --> 00:29:51,275
Well, divide that by six.

913
00:29:51,275 --> 00:29:53,510
You see how many
connections might have been

914
00:29:53,510 --> 00:29:54,800
made if they
had stuck with

915
00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:56,825
these American dough boys.

916
00:29:56,825 --> 00:29:58,985
So at this time,

917
00:29:58,985 --> 00:30:01,010
the idea was that women
were better at it for

918
00:30:01,010 --> 00:30:02,299
whatever reason
it was a job

919
00:30:02,299 --> 00:30:03,620
they were accustomed
to doing.

920
00:30:03,620 --> 00:30:05,389
Now the idea was that
what men were really

921
00:30:05,389 --> 00:30:07,534
good at was
supervising women.

922
00:30:07,534 --> 00:30:10,219
So he'll see in the
back at the picture,

923
00:30:10,219 --> 00:30:11,570
you'll see the
gentleman standing

924
00:30:11,570 --> 00:30:13,880
there making sure that
women do their job.

925
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,099
But it was actually
the woman who had

926
00:30:16,099 --> 00:30:17,359
the technical
expertise for

927
00:30:17,359 --> 00:30:18,559
the most part
to do the job.

928
00:30:18,559 --> 00:30:20,450
Well, the result
of that is that

929
00:30:20,450 --> 00:30:22,819
the army finally
breaks down and,

930
00:30:22,819 --> 00:30:24,589
and decides, okay, we
have to recruit women.

931
00:30:24,589 --> 00:30:26,195
And so this poster,

932
00:30:26,195 --> 00:30:27,845
it's a good representation

933
00:30:27,845 --> 00:30:29,929
of not only their
effort to recruit,

934
00:30:29,929 --> 00:30:31,609
but also the kind
of thing that

935
00:30:31,609 --> 00:30:33,349
women in France,
once I got there,

936
00:30:33,349 --> 00:30:35,689
often didn't see most of

937
00:30:35,689 --> 00:30:36,769
the operators which are

938
00:30:36,769 --> 00:30:38,360
well behind the lines.

939
00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:40,459
Just like the
vast majority of

940
00:30:40,459 --> 00:30:42,859
American soldiers
in general,

941
00:30:42,859 --> 00:30:45,079
there was something like 4

942
00:30:45,079 --> 00:30:46,565
million men in the war.

943
00:30:46,565 --> 00:30:48,665
Americans in the
war at some point,

944
00:30:48,665 --> 00:30:51,079
at home or abroad of
those four million,

945
00:30:51,079 --> 00:30:53,494
one point five
served in combat.

946
00:30:53,494 --> 00:30:54,709
By the way, about half

947
00:30:54,709 --> 00:30:55,790
of them were volunteers,

948
00:30:55,790 --> 00:30:57,754
about half of them
were conscripts.

949
00:30:57,754 --> 00:30:58,640
The thing to know about

950
00:30:58,640 --> 00:30:59,839
the women is that
all of them are

951
00:30:59,839 --> 00:31:02,209
volunteers
because there was

952
00:31:02,209 --> 00:31:03,889
no law to conscript one.

953
00:31:03,889 --> 00:31:05,959
Now some of these
women would have seen

954
00:31:05,959 --> 00:31:08,479
exactly what this
depiction shows,

955
00:31:08,479 --> 00:31:10,265
which is Troops going
back and forth,

956
00:31:10,265 --> 00:31:11,479
you know, people being so

957
00:31:11,479 --> 00:31:12,499
close to the front lines

958
00:31:12,499 --> 00:31:13,189
that you would actually

959
00:31:13,189 --> 00:31:16,880
see men coming up to
entering to combat.

960
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:18,620
And so they
began to induct

961
00:31:18,620 --> 00:31:20,510
women what they
do initially,

962
00:31:20,510 --> 00:31:22,069
by the way, they
put out a call.

963
00:31:22,069 --> 00:31:24,559
They get for the
first 100 positions,

964
00:31:24,559 --> 00:31:27,635
they get 7600 volunteers.

965
00:31:27,635 --> 00:31:31,369
So 100 positions,
7600 volunteers,

966
00:31:31,369 --> 00:31:34,474
women who want to want
to do their part.

967
00:31:34,474 --> 00:31:37,100
And that's, That's
also what's changing.

968
00:31:37,100 --> 00:31:38,750
I mean, this is
coming at a time when

969
00:31:38,750 --> 00:31:39,620
this as a period of what's

970
00:31:39,620 --> 00:31:41,000
known as the New Woman.

971
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:42,679
But men are getting
education it,

972
00:31:42,679 --> 00:31:44,120
and so the, I did that.

973
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:45,559
Now that maybe you
can contribute

974
00:31:45,559 --> 00:31:47,150
your country and
it's not weird,

975
00:31:47,150 --> 00:31:48,680
it's just right,

976
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,649
is something that is
beginning to catch on.

977
00:31:51,649 --> 00:31:54,199
So this, what this photo

978
00:31:54,199 --> 00:31:56,255
shows you as a
group of women.

979
00:31:56,255 --> 00:31:58,669
These are from California.

980
00:31:58,669 --> 00:32:02,389
One of the, the, they
took these 7600 people.

981
00:32:02,389 --> 00:32:03,649
They tested them for

982
00:32:03,649 --> 00:32:06,050
competence and
their adaptiveness,

983
00:32:06,050 --> 00:32:07,385
their speed and
things like that,

984
00:32:07,385 --> 00:32:09,514
and also how well
they spoke French.

985
00:32:09,514 --> 00:32:11,119
Because they wanted
to make sure

986
00:32:11,119 --> 00:32:12,679
that these 100 operators

987
00:32:12,679 --> 00:32:13,969
they got were not only

988
00:32:13,969 --> 00:32:15,755
what they called
wire experts,

989
00:32:15,755 --> 00:32:17,659
but almost more
importantly.

990
00:32:17,659 --> 00:32:20,615
Completely fluent in
French and English.

991
00:32:20,615 --> 00:32:21,949
Because these
operators would

992
00:32:21,949 --> 00:32:22,640
not only be doing

993
00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:23,840
the hard job that

994
00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:25,849
American operators
always did,

995
00:32:25,849 --> 00:32:27,830
but they would
also be able to do

996
00:32:27,830 --> 00:32:30,065
it simultaneously in
English, in French,

997
00:32:30,065 --> 00:32:31,729
because they would
be sometimes taking

998
00:32:31,729 --> 00:32:33,200
calls from French
officers who

999
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:34,909
needed to speak with
American officers

1000
00:32:34,909 --> 00:32:35,449
and neither of them

1001
00:32:35,449 --> 00:32:36,875
understood the
other's language.

1002
00:32:36,875 --> 00:32:38,150
So they were simultaneous

1003
00:32:38,150 --> 00:32:39,890
translators as well as

1004
00:32:39,890 --> 00:32:41,165
everything else
that they were

1005
00:32:41,165 --> 00:32:43,474
doing. So is pretty crazy.

1006
00:32:43,474 --> 00:32:46,490
So after they got
this 7600 applicants,

1007
00:32:46,490 --> 00:32:47,509
they shunted them off to

1008
00:32:47,509 --> 00:32:50,390
different places
to for training.

1009
00:32:50,390 --> 00:32:51,679
This actually shows a

1010
00:32:51,679 --> 00:32:53,795
training facility in
San Francisco which

1011
00:32:53,795 --> 00:32:55,834
almost everyone who came
from Washington and

1012
00:32:55,834 --> 00:32:57,979
Oregon came to
San Francisco.

1013
00:32:57,979 --> 00:32:59,240
So on the West Coast,

1014
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,339
that was the primary spot

1015
00:33:01,339 --> 00:33:03,754
where where women
were trained.

1016
00:33:03,754 --> 00:33:07,279
The West interestingly,
the West Coast had

1017
00:33:07,279 --> 00:33:09,469
far greater number of

1018
00:33:09,469 --> 00:33:10,730
operators than any other

1019
00:33:10,730 --> 00:33:12,289
section of the country.

1020
00:33:12,289 --> 00:33:14,209
And in part
because of this,

1021
00:33:14,209 --> 00:33:15,755
the ideas and the West,

1022
00:33:15,755 --> 00:33:17,269
the only way people
could communicate

1023
00:33:17,269 --> 00:33:18,350
with over the wires.

1024
00:33:18,350 --> 00:33:20,509
And so there was
great, great,

1025
00:33:20,509 --> 00:33:21,379
much greater use of

1026
00:33:21,379 --> 00:33:22,610
the telephone,
oddly enough,

1027
00:33:22,610 --> 00:33:23,660
on the West Coast and in

1028
00:33:23,660 --> 00:33:24,709
other parts of
the country.

1029
00:33:24,709 --> 00:33:26,675
So a lot of operators
came from there.

1030
00:33:26,675 --> 00:33:28,010
And as you can
see, the women

1031
00:33:28,010 --> 00:33:29,270
are being accompanied by

1032
00:33:29,270 --> 00:33:32,929
none other than Joan
of Arc herself.

1033
00:33:32,929 --> 00:33:34,790
So the maid of
Lorraine is there

1034
00:33:34,790 --> 00:33:36,679
to, to urge them on.

1035
00:33:36,679 --> 00:33:38,809
After they were selected,

1036
00:33:38,809 --> 00:33:40,115
a very small number of

1037
00:33:40,115 --> 00:33:41,300
people were
actually selected

1038
00:33:41,300 --> 00:33:42,080
to go to France.

1039
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:42,859
Then they were sent to

1040
00:33:42,859 --> 00:33:44,690
New York where
they are trained.

1041
00:33:44,690 --> 00:33:46,309
Their training was
kind of confirmed

1042
00:33:46,309 --> 00:33:47,510
by AT and T and

1043
00:33:47,510 --> 00:33:48,950
880 was sort of running

1044
00:33:48,950 --> 00:33:50,675
this unit for the army.

1045
00:33:50,675 --> 00:33:52,624
They are under
army command.

1046
00:33:52,624 --> 00:33:54,439
But AT and T and also the

1047
00:33:54,439 --> 00:33:57,080
YMCA YWCA, I should say,

1048
00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:58,580
was helping with arranging

1049
00:33:58,580 --> 00:34:00,994
their personal bullets and

1050
00:34:00,994 --> 00:34:01,880
where they would stay

1051
00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:02,840
when they got to France.

1052
00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:04,430
And because the army
didn't want to kind of

1053
00:34:04,430 --> 00:34:05,689
worry too much
about making

1054
00:34:05,689 --> 00:34:07,040
women's personal
arrangements.

1055
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:08,240
And again, that
had to do with

1056
00:34:08,240 --> 00:34:10,100
that notion that no,

1057
00:34:10,100 --> 00:34:11,240
is it proper for men to

1058
00:34:11,240 --> 00:34:12,590
supervise women,
et cetera.

1059
00:34:12,590 --> 00:34:13,609
So the Y Young

1060
00:34:13,609 --> 00:34:15,439
Women's Christian
Association set up

1061
00:34:15,439 --> 00:34:19,130
there are places where
they would stay.

1062
00:34:19,130 --> 00:34:21,710
So this is them on the
the first group on

1063
00:34:21,710 --> 00:34:25,714
the top floor of AT
and T in New York,

1064
00:34:25,714 --> 00:34:27,350
which was then one
of the very tallest

1065
00:34:27,350 --> 00:34:28,400
buildings in the city.

1066
00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:29,960
And there's snow
on the ground and

1067
00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:31,969
they are marching and
learning to drill.

1068
00:34:31,969 --> 00:34:34,940
And it's this odd
thing because

1069
00:34:34,940 --> 00:34:36,559
none of these women had

1070
00:34:36,559 --> 00:34:38,870
ever any experience
along this line.

1071
00:34:38,870 --> 00:34:40,490
And of course, one
of the things is if

1072
00:34:40,490 --> 00:34:41,959
you have women
soldiers will,

1073
00:34:41,959 --> 00:34:42,709
then you probably should

1074
00:34:42,709 --> 00:34:43,760
have some women officers.

1075
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:45,560
So like who becomes
the officer?

1076
00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,589
So they took there
were just a few group,

1077
00:34:48,589 --> 00:34:49,700
a few of the women who had

1078
00:34:49,700 --> 00:34:51,014
had college degrees.

1079
00:34:51,014 --> 00:34:52,899
And suddenly they
said, okay, well,

1080
00:34:52,899 --> 00:34:54,789
you're the officers
practice saluting.

1081
00:34:54,789 --> 00:34:56,319
So they're like trying

1082
00:34:56,319 --> 00:34:57,490
to figure out
how to salute,

1083
00:34:57,490 --> 00:34:59,079
how to drill in and

1084
00:34:59,079 --> 00:34:59,740
get ready to go to

1085
00:34:59,740 --> 00:35:00,939
France all at
the same time.

1086
00:35:00,939 --> 00:35:02,379
So it was a very
informal but

1087
00:35:02,379 --> 00:35:04,794
very important program
in that respect.

1088
00:35:04,794 --> 00:35:07,689
When they got
your France, they

1089
00:35:07,689 --> 00:35:10,735
arrived in March of 1918,

1090
00:35:10,735 --> 00:35:13,239
which sounds late it
kinda late in the war,

1091
00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:15,519
if you know that
it starts in 1914.

1092
00:35:15,519 --> 00:35:17,455
But it's important
to remember that

1093
00:35:17,455 --> 00:35:19,570
the United States
doesn't get involved in

1094
00:35:19,570 --> 00:35:21,310
a really significant

1095
00:35:21,310 --> 00:35:22,630
military presence
in the war

1096
00:35:22,630 --> 00:35:26,674
until really almost
July, August of 1918.

1097
00:35:26,674 --> 00:35:28,500
Personally is
taking a long time

1098
00:35:28,500 --> 00:35:30,165
to ramp up his army.

1099
00:35:30,165 --> 00:35:31,499
And so what happens

1100
00:35:31,499 --> 00:35:32,639
is that the
women get there

1101
00:35:32,639 --> 00:35:35,609
before most of the
dough boys arrive.

1102
00:35:35,609 --> 00:35:37,679
They are also
among the last to

1103
00:35:37,679 --> 00:35:40,259
leave because they
are in logistics.

1104
00:35:40,259 --> 00:35:44,204
And so, you know, I had
I met with your one,

1105
00:35:44,204 --> 00:35:45,524
my wonderful host tonight

1106
00:35:45,524 --> 00:35:47,789
45 minutes before the
rest of you turned up.

1107
00:35:47,789 --> 00:35:48,870
And the same thing
would have been

1108
00:35:48,870 --> 00:35:50,114
true of the hello girls.

1109
00:35:50,114 --> 00:35:51,420
They needed to
get there so that

1110
00:35:51,420 --> 00:35:52,919
the army could
get organized.

1111
00:35:52,919 --> 00:35:54,509
And then they need
to stay longer than

1112
00:35:54,509 --> 00:35:55,349
everybody else so they

1113
00:35:55,349 --> 00:35:57,120
could get the men home.

1114
00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,459
This shows you some of
the women who went.

1115
00:35:59,459 --> 00:36:01,484
There were a number
of pairs of sisters.

1116
00:36:01,484 --> 00:36:02,999
And this is, these are

1117
00:36:02,999 --> 00:36:05,250
Louise and remote
labor ton.

1118
00:36:05,250 --> 00:36:07,019
You might notice on
the right-hand side of

1119
00:36:07,019 --> 00:36:10,460
this photograph is a
picture of Joan of Arc.

1120
00:36:10,460 --> 00:36:12,889
So this was kind of a
symbol for these women.

1121
00:36:12,889 --> 00:36:15,290
They're like, yes, you
know, this is right.

1122
00:36:15,290 --> 00:36:17,284
This can be time, we
can be heroes too.

1123
00:36:17,284 --> 00:36:19,369
And they're reading
letters from home.

1124
00:36:19,369 --> 00:36:21,034
Their barracks was bombed.

1125
00:36:21,034 --> 00:36:23,390
This was some of the
women who were close,

1126
00:36:23,390 --> 00:36:24,860
very close to
the frontlines,

1127
00:36:24,860 --> 00:36:26,389
not as close to some
of the other women

1128
00:36:26,389 --> 00:36:28,850
got, but in danger.

1129
00:36:28,850 --> 00:36:30,860
And I always find

1130
00:36:30,860 --> 00:36:32,150
this fair
particularly pair,

1131
00:36:32,150 --> 00:36:33,199
particularly funny
because they

1132
00:36:33,199 --> 00:36:34,999
lied about their
ages to get in.

1133
00:36:34,999 --> 00:36:37,700
Remained on the
right was 16.

1134
00:36:37,700 --> 00:36:40,880
Her sister on the left
was 18, and they lied.

1135
00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,159
They live like a
rug. They lied to

1136
00:36:43,159 --> 00:36:44,419
Army intelligence
and said they

1137
00:36:44,419 --> 00:36:46,430
were 820 one respectively.

1138
00:36:46,430 --> 00:36:47,569
And the funny thing
is when I went to

1139
00:36:47,569 --> 00:36:48,739
the National
Archives to look

1140
00:36:48,739 --> 00:36:50,164
through their
military records,

1141
00:36:50,164 --> 00:36:51,369
Army intelligence.

1142
00:36:51,369 --> 00:36:52,470
These young ladies are

1143
00:36:52,470 --> 00:36:53,789
very mature for their age.

1144
00:36:53,789 --> 00:36:55,575
We think they're going
to do quite well.

1145
00:36:55,575 --> 00:36:57,539
And of course, they
didn't know is that

1146
00:36:57,539 --> 00:37:00,090
they were actually
even younger yet.

1147
00:37:00,090 --> 00:37:02,819
So this shows you the
group that some of

1148
00:37:02,819 --> 00:37:05,069
the women who got closest
to the front lines,

1149
00:37:05,069 --> 00:37:06,299
there were seven women who

1150
00:37:06,299 --> 00:37:07,619
traveled essentially with

1151
00:37:07,619 --> 00:37:10,424
John Pershing
when he moved up,

1152
00:37:10,424 --> 00:37:11,640
when they moved away from

1153
00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:12,720
the headquarters
where they had

1154
00:37:12,720 --> 00:37:14,820
been kind of safe and

1155
00:37:14,820 --> 00:37:17,249
the central
part of France.

1156
00:37:17,249 --> 00:37:18,420
And they move up
to the front and

1157
00:37:18,420 --> 00:37:21,210
the North East of
France near Germany.

1158
00:37:21,210 --> 00:37:23,084
As you note that they have

1159
00:37:23,084 --> 00:37:25,829
gas masks and helmets
on their chairs.

1160
00:37:25,829 --> 00:37:27,465
And that's
because they were

1161
00:37:27,465 --> 00:37:28,530
subject to strafing.

1162
00:37:28,530 --> 00:37:30,539
They could have been
subject to bombing.

1163
00:37:30,539 --> 00:37:32,700
They were trained in
the use of revolvers.

1164
00:37:32,700 --> 00:37:34,410
I discovered by looking at

1165
00:37:34,410 --> 00:37:37,739
the diary that one
of the women kept.

1166
00:37:37,739 --> 00:37:39,209
And these are, this is at

1167
00:37:39,209 --> 00:37:41,369
the Battle of moves
are gone and they are,

1168
00:37:41,369 --> 00:37:42,765
they are operating
what are called the

1169
00:37:42,765 --> 00:37:45,029
operations boards.
They're no longer on.

1170
00:37:45,029 --> 00:37:46,109
They sort of, you know,

1171
00:37:46,109 --> 00:37:47,249
boards where you might be

1172
00:37:47,249 --> 00:37:48,779
coordinating supplies

1173
00:37:48,779 --> 00:37:51,929
and all kinds of
diplomatic news.

1174
00:37:51,929 --> 00:37:54,989
These are only for
military operations

1175
00:37:54,989 --> 00:37:58,005
to speed commands
and in more time.

1176
00:37:58,005 --> 00:38:00,390
And so they're right
with John Persian.

1177
00:38:00,390 --> 00:38:02,699
Meanwhile, back
at the ranch,

1178
00:38:02,699 --> 00:38:04,295
I know you said you
yourselves way.

1179
00:38:04,295 --> 00:38:05,894
We started out with
women's suffrage.

1180
00:38:05,894 --> 00:38:07,409
How this gets tied
together with

1181
00:38:07,409 --> 00:38:08,880
women's suffrage is
that first of all,

1182
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:11,040
the suffragists use
a new strategy.

1183
00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:12,735
And they say,
Wait a minute,

1184
00:38:12,735 --> 00:38:14,279
this is supposedly
a war about

1185
00:38:14,279 --> 00:38:16,800
democracy and President
Wilson is deceiving

1186
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,210
the world when he

1187
00:38:18,210 --> 00:38:20,069
appears as the
profit of democracy

1188
00:38:20,069 --> 00:38:21,915
and half of
American adults

1189
00:38:21,915 --> 00:38:24,045
are disenfranchised.

1190
00:38:24,045 --> 00:38:26,370
So that becomes an
important new argument

1191
00:38:26,370 --> 00:38:28,530
for, for women's suffrage.

1192
00:38:28,530 --> 00:38:30,780
The other thing that
happens too is that

1193
00:38:30,780 --> 00:38:33,029
Woodrow Wilson begins
to change his own mind.

1194
00:38:33,029 --> 00:38:34,199
And I, again, I
think this is

1195
00:38:34,199 --> 00:38:35,535
something we tend to
under appreciate.

1196
00:38:35,535 --> 00:38:37,349
I found very interesting

1197
00:38:37,349 --> 00:38:38,384
and writing the book,

1198
00:38:38,384 --> 00:38:40,710
which is that
Wilson becomes

1199
00:38:40,710 --> 00:38:42,930
a big advocate for
women's suffrage.

1200
00:38:42,930 --> 00:38:46,755
And he gives a speech
famously in 1918,

1201
00:38:46,755 --> 00:38:49,274
before the midterm
elections where he says,

1202
00:38:49,274 --> 00:38:50,370
are we going to be the

1203
00:38:50,370 --> 00:38:52,080
last to learn the lesson?

1204
00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:54,240
Because what's happened
by now is that

1205
00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:55,860
all the other
major belligerents

1206
00:38:55,860 --> 00:38:57,315
have enfranchise women,

1207
00:38:57,315 --> 00:38:58,859
that the British
and the French,

1208
00:38:58,859 --> 00:39:02,039
but the British have,
the Australians have

1209
00:39:02,039 --> 00:39:04,349
the Canadians
have the Germans

1210
00:39:04,349 --> 00:39:07,245
have the Bolsheviks half.

1211
00:39:07,245 --> 00:39:09,479
And so there's a
sense of how are

1212
00:39:09,479 --> 00:39:11,459
we going to be
this leader of

1213
00:39:11,459 --> 00:39:13,020
the New World if

1214
00:39:13,020 --> 00:39:14,399
we're not doing
what everybody else

1215
00:39:14,399 --> 00:39:16,200
does and withdrawals
and guess

1216
00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:16,680
what I think is

1217
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:18,315
the most beautiful
speech of his career,

1218
00:39:18,315 --> 00:39:20,430
where he basically says
women have served on

1219
00:39:20,430 --> 00:39:23,774
the very skirts
of the battle.

1220
00:39:23,774 --> 00:39:25,904
And who are we
to say that,

1221
00:39:25,904 --> 00:39:28,650
that this doesn't entitle
them to something.

1222
00:39:28,650 --> 00:39:30,419
So I'm paraphrasing that,

1223
00:39:30,419 --> 00:39:32,324
but it is quite a
beautiful speech.

1224
00:39:32,324 --> 00:39:34,484
Unfortunately for
Woodrow Wilson,

1225
00:39:34,484 --> 00:39:35,640
the Congress, the Senate

1226
00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:37,349
ignores him and they
do not pass it.

1227
00:39:37,349 --> 00:39:38,430
And one consequence of

1228
00:39:38,430 --> 00:39:40,319
that is that
women's suffrage

1229
00:39:40,319 --> 00:39:42,435
suffragists vote
against him

1230
00:39:42,435 --> 00:39:44,130
in that election
and he loses,

1231
00:39:44,130 --> 00:39:46,799
his party loses the
midterm elections in 1918

1232
00:39:46,799 --> 00:39:48,630
with catastrophic
effects for

1233
00:39:48,630 --> 00:39:50,219
the Treaty of Versailles.

1234
00:39:50,219 --> 00:39:52,169
So even though he
comes on board and

1235
00:39:52,169 --> 00:39:52,860
says Now is the

1236
00:39:52,860 --> 00:39:54,225
time support
women's suffrage.

1237
00:39:54,225 --> 00:39:55,349
It doesn't
really help them

1238
00:39:55,349 --> 00:39:56,399
in the midterm elections.

1239
00:39:56,399 --> 00:39:57,330
And then he suffered

1240
00:39:57,330 --> 00:39:58,589
just because
women can vote.

1241
00:39:58,589 --> 00:39:59,609
And some of the
states that

1242
00:39:59,609 --> 00:40:00,690
some of the
western states,

1243
00:40:00,690 --> 00:40:03,820
as you know, women can
vote by this time.

1244
00:40:03,820 --> 00:40:06,319
So what I wanted
to show you is,

1245
00:40:06,319 --> 00:40:10,040
I know you're all
historians in sympathy,

1246
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:11,540
if not in practice.

1247
00:40:11,540 --> 00:40:13,130
And this is the kind
of thing that I've

1248
00:40:13,130 --> 00:40:14,870
used to build the story.

1249
00:40:14,870 --> 00:40:16,505
These for the
secret orders

1250
00:40:16,505 --> 00:40:18,170
sent two on the
left it says

1251
00:40:18,170 --> 00:40:21,949
Miss bank or miss for
us now and miss Provo.

1252
00:40:21,949 --> 00:40:24,500
And these were amongst
the handful of them in

1253
00:40:24,500 --> 00:40:25,940
seven women who
went everywhere

1254
00:40:25,940 --> 00:40:27,395
with Pershing.

1255
00:40:27,395 --> 00:40:32,660
And it speaks to the
the lack of formality,

1256
00:40:32,660 --> 00:40:33,800
the fact that this was not

1257
00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:35,060
a bureaucratic order that

1258
00:40:35,060 --> 00:40:36,110
had come all the
way up through the

1259
00:40:36,110 --> 00:40:37,730
line in Washington DC.

1260
00:40:37,730 --> 00:40:38,719
And later this will come

1261
00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:39,964
back to harm the women.

1262
00:40:39,964 --> 00:40:41,149
People will say,
Well, what do you

1263
00:40:41,149 --> 00:40:42,230
really soldiers?

1264
00:40:42,230 --> 00:40:44,269
I mean, this
isn't a telegram,

1265
00:40:44,269 --> 00:40:45,789
this is a
handwritten note.

1266
00:40:45,789 --> 00:40:47,909
But as you say, it
says secret orders.

1267
00:40:47,909 --> 00:40:49,680
And in the second
line it says,

1268
00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:52,455
With luck, I shall
want you by the 26th.

1269
00:40:52,455 --> 00:40:53,519
27th. He's talking

1270
00:40:53,519 --> 00:40:54,794
about moving up
to the front.

1271
00:40:54,794 --> 00:40:56,069
He said In the
meantime, get

1272
00:40:56,069 --> 00:40:57,974
helmets and gas masks.

1273
00:40:57,974 --> 00:40:59,204
Because you're,

1274
00:40:59,204 --> 00:41:01,080
you're on your
way to the war.

1275
00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:03,359
One of the things
that I talk about

1276
00:41:03,359 --> 00:41:04,980
in the book is simply
this process by

1277
00:41:04,980 --> 00:41:06,960
which this idea that

1278
00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:08,039
women could be in

1279
00:41:08,039 --> 00:41:09,629
these roles and
it can be normal.

1280
00:41:09,629 --> 00:41:11,850
And you didn't have
to be a weird person.

1281
00:41:11,850 --> 00:41:13,199
Women and men could work

1282
00:41:13,199 --> 00:41:15,420
together with
something new.

1283
00:41:15,420 --> 00:41:16,830
The idea had always
been that women,

1284
00:41:16,830 --> 00:41:18,930
men must be in
separate spheres.

1285
00:41:18,930 --> 00:41:21,209
Otherwise, women we be

1286
00:41:21,209 --> 00:41:23,639
polluted and et cetera,

1287
00:41:23,639 --> 00:41:26,160
and men would be
men or whatever.

1288
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:28,049
So what happens
here is this is

1289
00:41:28,049 --> 00:41:29,910
just from a birthday
party they had

1290
00:41:29,910 --> 00:41:31,560
once because what they
ended up doing is

1291
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:33,510
they had they
were mess mates.

1292
00:41:33,510 --> 00:41:34,380
They ate breakfast,

1293
00:41:34,380 --> 00:41:35,400
lunch, and
dinner together.

1294
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:36,779
They work next
to each other.

1295
00:41:36,779 --> 00:41:38,250
Their barracks and
sleeping quarters

1296
00:41:38,250 --> 00:41:40,499
were separated by a wall.

1297
00:41:40,499 --> 00:41:43,140
And yet they became
friends and they

1298
00:41:43,140 --> 00:41:44,294
came to rely on each other

1299
00:41:44,294 --> 00:41:45,854
and they came to
trust one another.

1300
00:41:45,854 --> 00:41:47,444
And they came to
have confidence

1301
00:41:47,444 --> 00:41:48,839
in the arrangement
that they,

1302
00:41:48,839 --> 00:41:50,160
that they had made,
that this was

1303
00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:52,860
a very important thing
for the US Army.

1304
00:41:52,860 --> 00:41:55,649
The women at 1 their
barracks did burn

1305
00:41:55,649 --> 00:41:57,929
up a German
prisoner of war.

1306
00:41:57,929 --> 00:41:59,624
This was an extra German
prisoner that would

1307
00:41:59,624 --> 00:42:02,249
bring prisoners back
from the front.

1308
00:42:02,249 --> 00:42:03,389
The park them right there

1309
00:42:03,389 --> 00:42:05,505
next to the headquarters.

1310
00:42:05,505 --> 00:42:07,379
And at 1 a drum prisoner

1311
00:42:07,379 --> 00:42:08,834
of war knocked over a,

1312
00:42:08,834 --> 00:42:10,469
a gas and oil stove

1313
00:42:10,469 --> 00:42:12,029
and set that up in flames.

1314
00:42:12,029 --> 00:42:13,140
Now by the way,
the women were

1315
00:42:13,140 --> 00:42:14,430
working right next door,

1316
00:42:14,430 --> 00:42:16,530
their own
telephone exchange

1317
00:42:16,530 --> 00:42:17,924
starts to fill with smoke.

1318
00:42:17,924 --> 00:42:19,350
The men climb
up on the roof

1319
00:42:19,350 --> 00:42:20,910
to try to put
out the fire.

1320
00:42:20,910 --> 00:42:23,939
Women or could
be burned up in.

1321
00:42:23,939 --> 00:42:25,649
And the women are
still connecting

1322
00:42:25,649 --> 00:42:26,820
because the Army has said,

1323
00:42:26,820 --> 00:42:28,409
and at 1 after the
war they say if

1324
00:42:28,409 --> 00:42:31,290
communications goes
down for even an hour,

1325
00:42:31,290 --> 00:42:33,584
in a modern war,

1326
00:42:33,584 --> 00:42:36,614
the whole military
machine collapses.

1327
00:42:36,614 --> 00:42:39,509
So dependent on
this communication.

1328
00:42:39,509 --> 00:42:41,520
So the women are just
busily doing it.

1329
00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:42,705
It's filling
up with smoke,

1330
00:42:42,705 --> 00:42:44,520
but, but they don't
want to stop.

1331
00:42:44,520 --> 00:42:46,229
And at some, you know,

1332
00:42:46,229 --> 00:42:47,280
some point and
then say, okay,

1333
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:48,480
you've now got to get out.

1334
00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:49,679
So they, they get out

1335
00:42:49,679 --> 00:42:50,954
and they pull out
the equipment.

1336
00:42:50,954 --> 00:42:51,720
By the way, something

1337
00:42:51,720 --> 00:42:53,100
similar happened in Paris,

1338
00:42:53,100 --> 00:42:54,389
which was under
bombardment

1339
00:42:54,389 --> 00:42:55,560
when the women
first got there

1340
00:42:55,560 --> 00:42:56,910
and at 1 the windows

1341
00:42:56,910 --> 00:42:58,200
in this place
they are working.

1342
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:00,389
The windows shattered
from the concussions.

1343
00:43:00,389 --> 00:43:01,529
And the men
said You've got

1344
00:43:01,529 --> 00:43:02,579
to evacuate and women

1345
00:43:02,579 --> 00:43:05,339
said we will just
as soon as you do.

1346
00:43:05,339 --> 00:43:06,900
So that feeling of we're

1347
00:43:06,900 --> 00:43:08,085
all in it together was,

1348
00:43:08,085 --> 00:43:09,359
was very much, very,

1349
00:43:09,359 --> 00:43:11,759
very present for
these people.

1350
00:43:11,759 --> 00:43:14,985
They, when the war
came to an end,

1351
00:43:14,985 --> 00:43:16,379
they all came back

1352
00:43:16,379 --> 00:43:17,609
with a couple
of exceptions.

1353
00:43:17,609 --> 00:43:19,005
This is one of
the exceptions.

1354
00:43:19,005 --> 00:43:21,689
And as Crittenden of
San Francisco was

1355
00:43:21,689 --> 00:43:22,709
one of the two women who

1356
00:43:22,709 --> 00:43:24,659
were died during the war.

1357
00:43:24,659 --> 00:43:26,520
She died on

1358
00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:31,500
the 11th day of the
11th month of 1918.

1359
00:43:31,500 --> 00:43:32,310
In other words, the day

1360
00:43:32,310 --> 00:43:33,780
the war ended, she died,

1361
00:43:33,780 --> 00:43:35,310
we believe of
the influenza

1362
00:43:35,310 --> 00:43:36,629
pandemic that
actually killed

1363
00:43:36,629 --> 00:43:38,730
more American
combat soldiers

1364
00:43:38,730 --> 00:43:40,830
than German guns
did during the war.

1365
00:43:40,830 --> 00:43:43,859
So vast majority American
combat casualties

1366
00:43:43,859 --> 00:43:44,969
of American soldiers

1367
00:43:44,969 --> 00:43:46,214
in World War One was from

1368
00:43:46,214 --> 00:43:49,230
the influenza
pandemic of 1918 and,

1369
00:43:49,230 --> 00:43:52,140
and as printed in was
one of its casualties.

1370
00:43:52,140 --> 00:43:54,630
This was the woman
who lead it all.

1371
00:43:54,630 --> 00:43:56,519
She was the first leader
of the hello girls.

1372
00:43:56,519 --> 00:43:58,109
Her name was Grace
banker and I had

1373
00:43:58,109 --> 00:44:01,274
the great honor of
meeting her family

1374
00:44:01,274 --> 00:44:03,179
descendants.
This shows her

1375
00:44:03,179 --> 00:44:04,890
wearing the Distinguished
Service Medal.

1376
00:44:04,890 --> 00:44:07,050
She was the first
American woman soldier

1377
00:44:07,050 --> 00:44:08,475
ever to be awarded it.

1378
00:44:08,475 --> 00:44:10,829
There were women nurses,

1379
00:44:10,829 --> 00:44:12,330
there were

1380
00:44:12,330 --> 00:44:13,979
some people in
civilian capacities,

1381
00:44:13,979 --> 00:44:15,989
but she's our first
woman soldier.

1382
00:44:15,989 --> 00:44:17,430
Now, she by the way,

1383
00:44:17,430 --> 00:44:19,019
was one of only 18 members

1384
00:44:19,019 --> 00:44:20,639
of the US Signal
Corps to win this.

1385
00:44:20,639 --> 00:44:22,769
This was something
out of something like

1386
00:44:22,769 --> 00:44:24,930
11 thousand
eligible officers

1387
00:44:24,930 --> 00:44:26,160
and she was one of 18.

1388
00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:27,960
And when I read
her name was in

1389
00:44:27,960 --> 00:44:29,970
the US National Archives.

1390
00:44:29,970 --> 00:44:30,990
I'm looking at the list,

1391
00:44:30,990 --> 00:44:32,039
the role of people

1392
00:44:32,039 --> 00:44:33,209
and it's, you know,
General's phone.

1393
00:44:33,209 --> 00:44:34,320
So I'm Brigadier General.

1394
00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:36,269
So-and-so I know kernel.

1395
00:44:36,269 --> 00:44:40,185
So and so and Miss
Miss Grace banker

1396
00:44:40,185 --> 00:44:42,180
because the only right for

1397
00:44:42,180 --> 00:44:44,744
a woman was Miss or Mrs.

1398
00:44:44,744 --> 00:44:46,589
But there she
is on the list.

1399
00:44:46,589 --> 00:44:48,719
So warranted pretty
well for her,

1400
00:44:48,719 --> 00:44:50,460
ended less well for
Woodrow Wilson,

1401
00:44:50,460 --> 00:44:52,440
of course, after the
Treaty of Versailles.

1402
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:54,299
Sadly, he is unable to

1403
00:44:54,299 --> 00:44:56,369
convince the American
Congress to sign on.

1404
00:44:56,369 --> 00:44:57,600
So here's War
did not end up

1405
00:44:57,600 --> 00:44:58,830
quite as well
as the Women's

1406
00:44:58,830 --> 00:45:01,694
dead in the sense of
triumphing in his goals.

1407
00:45:01,694 --> 00:45:03,239
And partly because
of this whole thing

1408
00:45:03,239 --> 00:45:05,309
that happens with
women suffrage.

1409
00:45:05,309 --> 00:45:07,260
When the, when we get
home, they're actually

1410
00:45:07,260 --> 00:45:09,210
fitted at Bell
telephone news,

1411
00:45:09,210 --> 00:45:11,340
you know, has
wonderful lots

1412
00:45:11,340 --> 00:45:13,289
of fabulous archives
showing, you know,

1413
00:45:13,289 --> 00:45:14,729
the acknowledgment
of the women and

1414
00:45:14,729 --> 00:45:15,960
their acknowledge and

1415
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:17,310
newspapers across
the country,

1416
00:45:17,310 --> 00:45:18,329
especially to break

1417
00:45:18,329 --> 00:45:20,474
your grace banker
winning this distinct,

1418
00:45:20,474 --> 00:45:22,304
the distinguished
medal award.

1419
00:45:22,304 --> 00:45:24,839
Um, but curiously what

1420
00:45:24,839 --> 00:45:27,060
they find is that
they are initially

1421
00:45:27,060 --> 00:45:28,800
welcomed and sometimes
they even had

1422
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:30,125
the victory parades and

1423
00:45:30,125 --> 00:45:31,290
small towns which are so

1424
00:45:31,290 --> 00:45:33,554
proud to have one
of their girls

1425
00:45:33,554 --> 00:45:35,655
be one of the hello girls

1426
00:45:35,655 --> 00:45:38,159
because we're
only 223 of them.

1427
00:45:38,159 --> 00:45:40,470
But not long afterwards

1428
00:45:40,470 --> 00:45:42,105
they discovered
that actually

1429
00:45:42,105 --> 00:45:43,680
the one group that doesn't

1430
00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:46,020
really acknowledge
them is the US Army.

1431
00:45:46,020 --> 00:45:47,909
And this shows a
woman, rural egan,

1432
00:45:47,909 --> 00:45:50,009
Who's in her 90s when

1433
00:45:50,009 --> 00:45:51,209
this photograph is taken

1434
00:45:51,209 --> 00:45:52,440
and she by this point,

1435
00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:53,939
has gone from
living Montana

1436
00:45:53,939 --> 00:45:55,560
to living in
Seattle, Washington.

1437
00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:57,584
So not far from, from you.

1438
00:45:57,584 --> 00:46:00,165
And what they found
when they got back as

1439
00:46:00,165 --> 00:46:01,799
the army actually decided

1440
00:46:01,799 --> 00:46:03,674
that they weren't
real soldiers.

1441
00:46:03,674 --> 00:46:05,099
The army did not
want to give them

1442
00:46:05,099 --> 00:46:06,449
the benefits that
were given to women

1443
00:46:06,449 --> 00:46:07,980
who served in the
Marines or the

1444
00:46:07,980 --> 00:46:11,475
Navy who were acknowledged
with full know.

1445
00:46:11,475 --> 00:46:13,784
The full recognition.

1446
00:46:13,784 --> 00:46:16,109
Instead, what the army
basically says was,

1447
00:46:16,109 --> 00:46:17,580
you were never
really soldiers.

1448
00:46:17,580 --> 00:46:18,779
You were just civilians

1449
00:46:18,779 --> 00:46:20,129
helping us and
you know what?

1450
00:46:20,129 --> 00:46:21,704
You got paid for it.

1451
00:46:21,704 --> 00:46:23,910
Now, this man on
the right was

1452
00:46:23,910 --> 00:46:24,839
a young attorney from

1453
00:46:24,839 --> 00:46:26,160
Seattle who said
that just is

1454
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:28,905
not right to
himself anyway.

1455
00:46:28,905 --> 00:46:30,420
And he offered
to help, and

1456
00:46:30,420 --> 00:46:31,889
he actually ended
up helping to

1457
00:46:31,889 --> 00:46:33,299
develop an
argument that was

1458
00:46:33,299 --> 00:46:35,025
convincing to
the US Congress,

1459
00:46:35,025 --> 00:46:36,389
which was then
considering in

1460
00:46:36,389 --> 00:46:38,640
the 1970s the question
of whether or

1461
00:46:38,640 --> 00:46:39,720
not to recognize the

1462
00:46:39,720 --> 00:46:41,640
Women's Air Force
Service pilots in

1463
00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:43,020
World War Two who had

1464
00:46:43,020 --> 00:46:45,030
also not received
acknowledgement.

1465
00:46:45,030 --> 00:46:47,040
And Mark, how is this man?

1466
00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:48,660
And I got to meet him
in Seattle and he said,

1467
00:46:48,660 --> 00:46:50,250
You know what, legally,

1468
00:46:50,250 --> 00:46:52,139
if you put somebody
in a uniform

1469
00:46:52,139 --> 00:46:53,640
as they did with these
women and told him

1470
00:46:53,640 --> 00:46:55,200
You must never
take it off unless

1471
00:46:55,200 --> 00:46:57,179
you're in bed with
the coverage drawn

1472
00:46:57,179 --> 00:46:58,620
up and gave them dog

1473
00:46:58,620 --> 00:47:01,410
tags to where in case
they were killed.

1474
00:47:01,410 --> 00:47:02,909
That if you did
that And you told

1475
00:47:02,909 --> 00:47:04,259
me you ordered them
to wear those,

1476
00:47:04,259 --> 00:47:05,700
then you essentially
made them

1477
00:47:05,700 --> 00:47:07,409
into soldiers
because it did you

1478
00:47:07,409 --> 00:47:08,730
know it's illegal to

1479
00:47:08,730 --> 00:47:11,190
impersonate the member
of the armed forces,

1480
00:47:11,190 --> 00:47:12,975
the armies telling
you to do it,

1481
00:47:12,975 --> 00:47:14,939
that makes you
a true soldier.

1482
00:47:14,939 --> 00:47:16,589
So a variety Americans

1483
00:47:16,589 --> 00:47:17,909
got together to
help these women.

1484
00:47:17,909 --> 00:47:18,929
One was Lindy Boggs,

1485
00:47:18,929 --> 00:47:19,920
who by the way,
was the mother,

1486
00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:21,389
Cookie Roberts,
the journalist

1487
00:47:21,389 --> 00:47:22,859
who died last fall,

1488
00:47:22,859 --> 00:47:25,515
I believe it was
Barry Goldwater,

1489
00:47:25,515 --> 00:47:27,029
was another person
who came on it

1490
00:47:27,029 --> 00:47:28,080
because he really support

1491
00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:29,099
of the women of
World War Two,

1492
00:47:29,099 --> 00:47:29,970
having been a pilot

1493
00:47:29,970 --> 00:47:31,229
himself and Air
Force Service

1494
00:47:31,229 --> 00:47:32,489
pilot and

1495
00:47:32,489 --> 00:47:34,274
the National
Organization for Women.

1496
00:47:34,274 --> 00:47:35,654
So I think it's great.

1497
00:47:35,654 --> 00:47:38,009
Talk about a
variety of people.

1498
00:47:38,009 --> 00:47:39,510
You don't usually
say Barry Goldwater

1499
00:47:39,510 --> 00:47:41,445
and now in the
same sentence.

1500
00:47:41,445 --> 00:47:43,530
So I like that anyway.

1501
00:47:43,530 --> 00:47:44,880
Merle E, Again,
this is that

1502
00:47:44,880 --> 00:47:46,229
same woman was around to

1503
00:47:46,229 --> 00:47:48,119
receive her victory metals

1504
00:47:48,119 --> 00:47:49,439
and she said in the end.

1505
00:47:49,439 --> 00:47:53,235
She was so proud to win
her victory medals.

1506
00:47:53,235 --> 00:47:55,469
So much for being

1507
00:47:55,469 --> 00:47:57,150
a part of the
fight in France,

1508
00:47:57,150 --> 00:47:59,220
but for fighting
the US Army

1509
00:47:59,220 --> 00:48:02,160
for 60 years and winning.

1510
00:48:02,160 --> 00:48:05,834
So in recent times
there's been an effort to

1511
00:48:05,834 --> 00:48:07,050
give the hello girls

1512
00:48:07,050 --> 00:48:08,400
the Congressional
Medal of Honor

1513
00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:09,030
retroactively.

1514
00:48:09,030 --> 00:48:10,515
It's really not
come to anything.

1515
00:48:10,515 --> 00:48:12,149
It may be at reintroduced,

1516
00:48:12,149 --> 00:48:13,619
but it was
introduced last year

1517
00:48:13,619 --> 00:48:15,300
and never got her
two years ago,

1518
00:48:15,300 --> 00:48:17,400
I should say it
never got never went

1519
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:18,120
forward to dig it

1520
00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:19,934
reintroduced in
2020 as well.

1521
00:48:19,934 --> 00:48:22,470
So that's the book
and that's the story.

1522
00:48:22,470 --> 00:48:23,880
And now I'm ready
for your questions.

1523
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:25,785
So I'm going to
do stop share.

1524
00:48:25,785 --> 00:48:28,574
I think the sort of
sorts to do next.

1525
00:48:28,574 --> 00:48:31,649
And and John, maybe
you can help us out.

1526
00:48:31,649 --> 00:48:33,510
Absolutely. And thank you

1527
00:48:33,510 --> 00:48:36,315
for that wonderful talk.

1528
00:48:36,315 --> 00:48:37,800
If our audiences like me,

1529
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:38,969
their heads, I hope are

1530
00:48:38,969 --> 00:48:40,289
brimming with
questions for you.

1531
00:48:40,289 --> 00:48:42,059
So, just as a reminder,

1532
00:48:42,059 --> 00:48:45,119
you can post questions
in the Q and a,

1533
00:48:45,119 --> 00:48:47,129
not the chat and the Q&A,

1534
00:48:47,129 --> 00:48:47,729
which you'll find at

1535
00:48:47,729 --> 00:48:49,170
the bottom of your screen.

1536
00:48:49,170 --> 00:48:51,240
And they should
scroll open

1537
00:48:51,240 --> 00:48:54,270
here once you've
entered them.

1538
00:48:54,270 --> 00:48:57,389
So meantime, I'm
going to lead us

1539
00:48:57,389 --> 00:48:59,100
off and give our
audience a chance

1540
00:48:59,100 --> 00:49:01,605
to frame their
questions for you.

1541
00:49:01,605 --> 00:49:03,749
I have several
I want to ask,

1542
00:49:03,749 --> 00:49:05,040
but I'll I'll focus on

1543
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:07,679
the one that caught
my attention from one

1544
00:49:07,679 --> 00:49:09,660
of the images which was of

1545
00:49:09,660 --> 00:49:11,340
the two sisters
who lied about

1546
00:49:11,340 --> 00:49:12,150
their ages and who

1547
00:49:12,150 --> 00:49:13,169
were photographed
in there,

1548
00:49:13,169 --> 00:49:14,909
presumably in their
barracks area.

1549
00:49:14,909 --> 00:49:17,054
And I noticed will look
like a tennis racket

1550
00:49:17,054 --> 00:49:18,689
on the wall behind them.

1551
00:49:18,689 --> 00:49:20,340
And that raised
the question for

1552
00:49:20,340 --> 00:49:22,215
me about the leisure,

1553
00:49:22,215 --> 00:49:25,020
if we know
anything about how

1554
00:49:25,020 --> 00:49:27,810
these women past
whatever leisure time

1555
00:49:27,810 --> 00:49:29,159
and I'm guessing there
wasn't much of it,

1556
00:49:29,159 --> 00:49:33,120
but whatever leisure
time they had or if we

1557
00:49:33,120 --> 00:49:34,679
know anything of their of

1558
00:49:34,679 --> 00:49:35,850
their activities when they

1559
00:49:35,850 --> 00:49:37,765
weren't on the
job as well.

1560
00:49:37,765 --> 00:49:39,319
What a great question.

1561
00:49:39,319 --> 00:49:40,834
And I'm lucky to have

1562
00:49:40,834 --> 00:49:42,230
be able to
answer it partly

1563
00:49:42,230 --> 00:49:44,569
because I did find

1564
00:49:44,569 --> 00:49:46,504
diaries from three
of the women.

1565
00:49:46,504 --> 00:49:48,530
So that was my
great discovery.

1566
00:49:48,530 --> 00:49:49,429
How do you find this?

1567
00:49:49,429 --> 00:49:50,659
In fact, I had a friend
who said, Are you

1568
00:49:50,659 --> 00:49:52,069
sure you can get a
whole book out of this?

1569
00:49:52,069 --> 00:49:54,650
And I'm like, I certainly,
certainly shout.

1570
00:49:54,650 --> 00:49:57,620
But they did a
number of ways.

1571
00:49:57,620 --> 00:49:59,555
The women who were
behind the lines

1572
00:49:59,555 --> 00:50:00,979
work eight hours a day in

1573
00:50:00,979 --> 00:50:02,870
three eight-hour
shifts are

1574
00:50:02,870 --> 00:50:05,164
actually two
eight-hour shifts.

1575
00:50:05,164 --> 00:50:06,469
And then the
men would take

1576
00:50:06,469 --> 00:50:07,624
the overnight calls.

1577
00:50:07,624 --> 00:50:08,720
They would have
dough boys,

1578
00:50:08,720 --> 00:50:10,489
male dough boys
on overnight.

1579
00:50:10,489 --> 00:50:12,139
When they got closer
to the front,

1580
00:50:12,139 --> 00:50:14,659
they had women on
they had women on to

1581
00:50:14,659 --> 00:50:16,279
12 hour shifts because

1582
00:50:16,279 --> 00:50:18,650
they said we cannot
afford to have many hats.

1583
00:50:18,650 --> 00:50:20,639
When it comes
to the actual

1584
00:50:20,639 --> 00:50:21,840
operations and more time,

1585
00:50:21,840 --> 00:50:24,209
which I always think
is so amazing, right?

1586
00:50:24,209 --> 00:50:26,129
That the women were
so good at this

1587
00:50:26,129 --> 00:50:27,120
that they felt they had to

1588
00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:28,350
keep women on the lines.

1589
00:50:28,350 --> 00:50:29,819
Whereas back in

1590
00:50:29,819 --> 00:50:31,620
safer areas, they could
have meant overnight.

1591
00:50:31,620 --> 00:50:33,180
So they did all
kinds of things.

1592
00:50:33,180 --> 00:50:34,230
I mean, there were stories

1593
00:50:34,230 --> 00:50:35,325
of people bicycling.

1594
00:50:35,325 --> 00:50:36,929
There were a
lot of dances.

1595
00:50:36,929 --> 00:50:38,099
So the other thing is that

1596
00:50:38,099 --> 00:50:39,119
these were a handful of

1597
00:50:39,119 --> 00:50:41,729
women in an army of
1.5 million men.

1598
00:50:41,729 --> 00:50:43,649
And so, and there
were some marriages

1599
00:50:43,649 --> 00:50:45,060
and there were some
romances that was,

1600
00:50:45,060 --> 00:50:46,904
that was very fun as well.

1601
00:50:46,904 --> 00:50:49,395
But they just did
all kinds of things.

1602
00:50:49,395 --> 00:50:51,494
They were in France

1603
00:50:51,494 --> 00:50:53,340
and they came back

1604
00:50:53,340 --> 00:50:54,660
with all kinds of
fun souvenirs.

1605
00:50:54,660 --> 00:50:56,609
One, the gentlemen,
Marco was

1606
00:50:56,609 --> 00:50:58,139
the attorney
who help who's

1607
00:50:58,139 --> 00:50:59,340
had so many of
the records.

1608
00:50:59,340 --> 00:51:00,749
I used it 1,

1609
00:51:00,749 --> 00:51:02,069
he said he said,
You've gotta,

1610
00:51:02,069 --> 00:51:03,465
you gotta look at
this little thing.

1611
00:51:03,465 --> 00:51:04,649
It's like some subtle tiny

1612
00:51:04,649 --> 00:51:06,179
little thimble
sized thing.

1613
00:51:06,179 --> 00:51:07,319
And I like, Oh, look

1614
00:51:07,319 --> 00:51:09,585
like binoculars on
a charm bracelet.

1615
00:51:09,585 --> 00:51:11,309
So I binoculars cool.

1616
00:51:11,309 --> 00:51:12,735
He said No, no,
no, Look at them.

1617
00:51:12,735 --> 00:51:14,010
So I looked at
them and I could

1618
00:51:14,010 --> 00:51:15,180
see a flashlight
necessarily.

1619
00:51:15,180 --> 00:51:16,620
Yeah, they have glass
and then he said No,

1620
00:51:16,620 --> 00:51:18,359
no, look at them.

1621
00:51:18,359 --> 00:51:20,490
So I teach these
tiny binoculars

1622
00:51:20,490 --> 00:51:21,929
and look for them.

1623
00:51:21,929 --> 00:51:23,429
And it's pornography,

1624
00:51:23,429 --> 00:51:24,675
It's French pornography.

1625
00:51:24,675 --> 00:51:26,100
On one side
there's a woman

1626
00:51:26,100 --> 00:51:27,869
standing with a
mirror at a table,

1627
00:51:27,869 --> 00:51:29,040
and the next two
women who are

1628
00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:29,850
standing there doing

1629
00:51:29,850 --> 00:51:31,005
something else seductive.

1630
00:51:31,005 --> 00:51:32,249
And obviously
this wouldn't

1631
00:51:32,249 --> 00:51:33,900
thought this spherical.

1632
00:51:33,900 --> 00:51:35,130
They keep having
all kinds of

1633
00:51:35,130 --> 00:51:36,659
crazy French souvenirs,

1634
00:51:36,659 --> 00:51:38,069
can openers and stuff

1635
00:51:38,069 --> 00:51:39,615
like that. So they
had a good time.

1636
00:51:39,615 --> 00:51:42,720
In summary, thank
you for that.

1637
00:51:42,720 --> 00:51:44,429
And our questions are
starting to roll,

1638
00:51:44,429 --> 00:51:46,019
and so I'm gonna
do my best to,

1639
00:51:46,019 --> 00:51:48,120
to take them in order.

1640
00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:48,809
And also if you'd

1641
00:51:48,809 --> 00:51:49,770
like questions
or if you see

1642
00:51:49,770 --> 00:51:50,849
questions that have
been posed to you

1643
00:51:50,849 --> 00:51:52,394
like please I like them.

1644
00:51:52,394 --> 00:51:54,225
The first question
comes from

1645
00:51:54,225 --> 00:51:55,514
Emily Hogan issue.

1646
00:51:55,514 --> 00:51:56,615
I know well, as

1647
00:51:56,615 --> 00:51:57,989
a former student now

1648
00:51:57,989 --> 00:51:59,774
alumna of Portland State,

1649
00:51:59,774 --> 00:52:02,279
she asks, how much do
we know about what

1650
00:52:02,279 --> 00:52:05,414
the women went on to
do after the war?

1651
00:52:05,414 --> 00:52:09,030
Very good question for
milli on, you know,

1652
00:52:09,030 --> 00:52:13,920
there's no
systematic chart

1653
00:52:13,920 --> 00:52:15,704
on that. I'm in the army.

1654
00:52:15,704 --> 00:52:17,099
Sort of barely
acknowledged them.

1655
00:52:17,099 --> 00:52:18,510
Did not keep him
did not keep

1656
00:52:18,510 --> 00:52:20,429
them in the veterans
records, right?

1657
00:52:20,429 --> 00:52:21,840
They did not get
all the things that

1658
00:52:21,840 --> 00:52:23,535
the men did,
including bonuses.

1659
00:52:23,535 --> 00:52:25,050
There was
actually a fairly

1660
00:52:25,050 --> 00:52:26,834
large bonus if you
served in the war,

1661
00:52:26,834 --> 00:52:28,515
especially if you
served abroad.

1662
00:52:28,515 --> 00:52:30,059
You got so many, you got

1663
00:52:30,059 --> 00:52:30,839
a bonus based on

1664
00:52:30,839 --> 00:52:32,009
how many days is
termed abroad.

1665
00:52:32,009 --> 00:52:33,060
Now remember
the women went

1666
00:52:33,060 --> 00:52:34,860
first and they
came back last.

1667
00:52:34,860 --> 00:52:36,480
So someone like Grace
banker would have

1668
00:52:36,480 --> 00:52:38,459
served in France for
a year and a half.

1669
00:52:38,459 --> 00:52:40,424
In fact, longer than that,

1670
00:52:40,424 --> 00:52:44,340
whereas men might have
served for 235 months.

1671
00:52:44,340 --> 00:52:47,340
So afterwards what
I know about them,

1672
00:52:47,340 --> 00:52:48,449
I've been able
to track down

1673
00:52:48,449 --> 00:52:50,039
through newspapers.

1674
00:52:50,039 --> 00:52:52,500
Some to some extent
some of the archives.

1675
00:52:52,500 --> 00:52:55,290
And again, I was so
indebted to Marco,

1676
00:52:55,290 --> 00:52:57,689
the man who knew
them, knew knew them.

1677
00:52:57,689 --> 00:52:59,324
And when I was
first trying to

1678
00:52:59,324 --> 00:53:01,320
research the book,
I I didn't know.

1679
00:53:01,320 --> 00:53:02,580
I truly didn't

1680
00:53:02,580 --> 00:53:04,170
know if I could
write the book.

1681
00:53:04,170 --> 00:53:07,920
And so I reached out to
the bar association.

1682
00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:09,929
And I said, You know,

1683
00:53:09,929 --> 00:53:11,279
there was a guy 30,

1684
00:53:11,279 --> 00:53:12,839
40 years ago who
was a man never

1685
00:53:12,839 --> 00:53:14,885
the Seattle bar
by any chance,

1686
00:53:14,885 --> 00:53:16,289
you still have any
contact for them.

1687
00:53:16,289 --> 00:53:17,864
So they gave me
an old e-mail

1688
00:53:17,864 --> 00:53:19,470
which turned out
he's still habit,

1689
00:53:19,470 --> 00:53:21,059
he hadn't used a awhile

1690
00:53:21,059 --> 00:53:23,310
and I just happened to
luck on to when he,

1691
00:53:23,310 --> 00:53:25,200
he'd been traveling
out of the country for

1692
00:53:25,200 --> 00:53:27,690
Locke lot of the time
for eight years.

1693
00:53:27,690 --> 00:53:30,359
And I got a hold of him
and tracked him down.

1694
00:53:30,359 --> 00:53:30,780
He said, Well, I

1695
00:53:30,780 --> 00:53:32,564
happened to have
three boxes,

1696
00:53:32,564 --> 00:53:34,139
then allow me to

1697
00:53:34,139 --> 00:53:36,254
know where some of these
women had ended up.

1698
00:53:36,254 --> 00:53:38,160
And and what we found

1699
00:53:38,160 --> 00:53:39,750
is most them become
wives and mothers.

1700
00:53:39,750 --> 00:53:42,330
This is 999. Almost all

1701
00:53:42,330 --> 00:53:44,759
of them just married
but some did not sum,

1702
00:53:44,759 --> 00:53:46,335
now went on to serve as

1703
00:53:46,335 --> 00:53:48,165
assistance to
congress people.

1704
00:53:48,165 --> 00:53:49,694
So some of them stayed

1705
00:53:49,694 --> 00:53:51,614
engaged in the
public sphere.

1706
00:53:51,614 --> 00:53:53,010
But it was Marco

1707
00:53:53,010 --> 00:53:54,269
that help you find
those things.

1708
00:53:54,269 --> 00:53:55,979
And so when I finally
wrote me back

1709
00:53:55,979 --> 00:53:57,869
and written several
times, I'm like,

1710
00:53:57,869 --> 00:53:59,820
Oh my gosh, this is my
message in a bottle

1711
00:53:59,820 --> 00:54:02,295
for a further
through harder.

1712
00:54:02,295 --> 00:54:04,919
And he wrote me back
any I spoke to me,

1713
00:54:04,919 --> 00:54:06,059
said I have three boxes,

1714
00:54:06,059 --> 00:54:06,899
I'm about to take them to

1715
00:54:06,899 --> 00:54:08,804
the World War One Museum.

1716
00:54:08,804 --> 00:54:12,090
And I said, Could I
come up tomorrow?

1717
00:54:12,090 --> 00:54:14,595
And you wanted to
think I was weird.

1718
00:54:14,595 --> 00:54:17,069
I'm stocking you.
But I got on a plane

1719
00:54:17,069 --> 00:54:18,149
the next day and then went

1720
00:54:18,149 --> 00:54:19,394
up to Seattle
and that's high.

1721
00:54:19,394 --> 00:54:21,360
That's how I
track them down.

1722
00:54:21,360 --> 00:54:24,060
Thank you. We have

1723
00:54:24,060 --> 00:54:25,679
a very popular
question here from

1724
00:54:25,679 --> 00:54:28,169
Barbara trade
routes faculty

1725
00:54:28,169 --> 00:54:30,104
member pass faculty
member in the department.

1726
00:54:30,104 --> 00:54:31,739
As well as she

1727
00:54:31,739 --> 00:54:33,569
wants to know whether
British, French,

1728
00:54:33,569 --> 00:54:34,799
and Germans also

1729
00:54:34,799 --> 00:54:38,130
used women telephone
operators.

1730
00:54:38,130 --> 00:54:41,250
The, the only, there are

1731
00:54:41,250 --> 00:54:42,810
two countries
that formally

1732
00:54:42,810 --> 00:54:44,939
inducted women aside
from the United States.

1733
00:54:44,939 --> 00:54:46,799
One was Great Britain and

1734
00:54:46,799 --> 00:54:49,019
the other was
Bolshevik Russia.

1735
00:54:49,019 --> 00:54:51,599
So the Bolsheviks
had women.

1736
00:54:51,599 --> 00:54:53,789
In fact, they famously
were used in combat

1737
00:54:53,789 --> 00:54:54,839
in a group that
was called the

1738
00:54:54,839 --> 00:54:56,490
battalion of death.

1739
00:54:56,490 --> 00:54:58,259
So that's been movies

1740
00:54:58,259 --> 00:54:59,970
made about that
group of women.

1741
00:54:59,970 --> 00:55:01,590
I mean, they
were Bolsheviks.

1742
00:55:01,590 --> 00:55:03,794
They, they're
ready to do that.

1743
00:55:03,794 --> 00:55:06,300
So that was,

1744
00:55:06,300 --> 00:55:07,469
that was the greatest

1745
00:55:07,469 --> 00:55:08,699
extent to which
they were used.

1746
00:55:08,699 --> 00:55:09,930
And that doesn't mean that

1747
00:55:09,930 --> 00:55:11,159
civilian operators,

1748
00:55:11,159 --> 00:55:12,899
women in Germany,
for example,

1749
00:55:12,899 --> 00:55:14,969
and in France, were used,

1750
00:55:14,969 --> 00:55:16,469
used in a civilian
capacity,

1751
00:55:16,469 --> 00:55:18,239
but not in the
armies themselves.

1752
00:55:18,239 --> 00:55:21,239
So the United States,
actually because we,

1753
00:55:21,239 --> 00:55:24,675
the Navy predates
British, you supplement,

1754
00:55:24,675 --> 00:55:25,919
the United States
is actually

1755
00:55:25,919 --> 00:55:28,139
the first modern
country in

1756
00:55:28,139 --> 00:55:29,850
world history to use women

1757
00:55:29,850 --> 00:55:31,785
officially in the
armed forces.

1758
00:55:31,785 --> 00:55:33,210
Not that women
had volunteered

1759
00:55:33,210 --> 00:55:34,500
or snuck in previously,

1760
00:55:34,500 --> 00:55:37,660
but this is women
in uniform.

1761
00:55:38,090 --> 00:55:40,859
Thank you. So
next question

1762
00:55:40,859 --> 00:55:42,045
comes from Jonathan,

1763
00:55:42,045 --> 00:55:43,889
who is curious if there's

1764
00:55:43,889 --> 00:55:45,329
such a thing as

1765
00:55:45,329 --> 00:55:47,700
the Signal Corps and
the US military today,

1766
00:55:47,700 --> 00:55:49,590
are women significantly
a part of that?

1767
00:55:49,590 --> 00:55:51,960
That's a great question,

1768
00:55:51,960 --> 00:55:53,864
too. Very good question.

1769
00:55:53,864 --> 00:55:56,279
Yes. And in
fact, I'm like,

1770
00:55:56,279 --> 00:55:58,830
I'm completely beside
myself because I

1771
00:55:58,830 --> 00:56:01,649
was inducted as an
honorary brevity kernel.

1772
00:56:01,649 --> 00:56:02,760
So you can salute me now,

1773
00:56:02,760 --> 00:56:04,230
although I don't how
to do it myself,

1774
00:56:04,230 --> 00:56:04,830
obviously,

1775
00:56:04,830 --> 00:56:06,929
for anybody actually
knows those things.

1776
00:56:06,929 --> 00:56:09,090
Yes, no. Signal
Corps is a vibrant,

1777
00:56:09,090 --> 00:56:10,230
important part
of the army.

1778
00:56:10,230 --> 00:56:12,929
And, and like any
part of the army,

1779
00:56:12,929 --> 00:56:14,639
and women are about
15 percent of

1780
00:56:14,639 --> 00:56:16,740
the US Armed Forces Still,

1781
00:56:16,740 --> 00:56:19,260
or a relative
small minority.

1782
00:56:19,260 --> 00:56:20,759
But there are
many women in

1783
00:56:20,759 --> 00:56:22,530
the US Signal Corps and
I met many of them.

1784
00:56:22,530 --> 00:56:25,079
In fact, it was really
very moving to me to

1785
00:56:25,079 --> 00:56:27,974
be able to to sign books,

1786
00:56:27,974 --> 00:56:30,510
made out to curdle
so-and-so and

1787
00:56:30,510 --> 00:56:31,709
general so-and-so

1788
00:56:31,709 --> 00:56:33,689
and they are private
first-class.

1789
00:56:33,689 --> 00:56:36,029
So and so after
Miss Grace banker

1790
00:56:36,029 --> 00:56:38,609
had only ever had her
Miss has her rank,

1791
00:56:38,609 --> 00:56:40,619
so very, very sweet.

1792
00:56:40,619 --> 00:56:43,809
And yet women play
important roles today.

1793
00:56:44,090 --> 00:56:46,199
Let's see here I'm going

1794
00:56:46,199 --> 00:56:47,250
to just scroll
a little bit.

1795
00:56:47,250 --> 00:56:49,980
So Angela, who
is a friend of

1796
00:56:49,980 --> 00:56:51,840
the department and
the university,

1797
00:56:51,840 --> 00:56:53,295
has a couple of questions.

1798
00:56:53,295 --> 00:56:55,874
One is, How are they all

1799
00:56:55,874 --> 00:56:58,709
phone lines rot and
now we're at it.

1800
00:56:58,709 --> 00:56:59,999
She heard that they were

1801
00:56:59,999 --> 00:57:01,590
run through barbed
wire fences.

1802
00:57:01,590 --> 00:57:03,960
Doesn't know if
that's true or not.

1803
00:57:03,960 --> 00:57:06,030
But she's also
curious and this is

1804
00:57:06,030 --> 00:57:07,259
actually a question

1805
00:57:07,259 --> 00:57:08,489
that's echoed by
somebody else.

1806
00:57:08,489 --> 00:57:10,890
Whether we're the women,

1807
00:57:10,890 --> 00:57:12,239
the only Franca phones or

1808
00:57:12,239 --> 00:57:13,649
were the men taught French

1809
00:57:13,649 --> 00:57:16,859
before after
deployment as well?

1810
00:57:16,859 --> 00:57:19,140
All right, Good. Very
interesting questions.

1811
00:57:19,140 --> 00:57:21,359
And agile, I
believe, right.

1812
00:57:21,359 --> 00:57:23,519
And so that's yes,

1813
00:57:23,519 --> 00:57:25,379
I mean, that was the
beauty of the telephone.

1814
00:57:25,379 --> 00:57:27,660
Make it run it through
bushes and the West,

1815
00:57:27,660 --> 00:57:29,549
open your run-through
Bush's, through trees,

1816
00:57:29,549 --> 00:57:31,860
anything to keep the
wire above the ground.

1817
00:57:31,860 --> 00:57:34,410
And so they can

1818
00:57:34,410 --> 00:57:36,525
be strong and all
different kinds of ways.

1819
00:57:36,525 --> 00:57:38,550
As you saw from one
of his photographs.

1820
00:57:38,550 --> 00:57:40,469
I mean, the United
States actually put up

1821
00:57:40,469 --> 00:57:42,675
telephone lines all
across sprints.

1822
00:57:42,675 --> 00:57:45,464
So the construction
brigades, the CPS,

1823
00:57:45,464 --> 00:57:47,100
We're extremely important,

1824
00:57:47,100 --> 00:57:48,540
remains extremely
important part

1825
00:57:48,540 --> 00:57:49,349
of the armed forces.

1826
00:57:49,349 --> 00:57:51,359
And so they set up
these ultimately

1827
00:57:51,359 --> 00:57:54,000
got a completely
American network.

1828
00:57:54,000 --> 00:57:55,769
But that took a while for,

1829
00:57:55,769 --> 00:57:57,494
before you could
actually get our things.

1830
00:57:57,494 --> 00:57:58,650
Since the French words and

1831
00:57:58,650 --> 00:58:00,404
Anja, American only lines.

1832
00:58:00,404 --> 00:58:01,950
The other thing
about American lines

1833
00:58:01,950 --> 00:58:03,299
at this point is
that us what the

1834
00:58:03,299 --> 00:58:05,339
epicenter of telephone
development,

1835
00:58:05,339 --> 00:58:06,705
telephone technology.

1836
00:58:06,705 --> 00:58:08,249
So the clarity of

1837
00:58:08,249 --> 00:58:10,995
American lines was also
extremely important.

1838
00:58:10,995 --> 00:58:13,260
One of the British
generals famously said

1839
00:58:13,260 --> 00:58:15,359
when he used an American
lied to call London,

1840
00:58:15,359 --> 00:58:18,735
he said, they
recognized my voice.

1841
00:58:18,735 --> 00:58:21,359
It is usually going to
be somewhat static.

1842
00:58:21,359 --> 00:58:22,560
Your editor
interference, they'd be

1843
00:58:22,560 --> 00:58:24,284
like four, et cetera.

1844
00:58:24,284 --> 00:58:28,514
So, so that was a very
important part of it.

1845
00:58:28,514 --> 00:58:30,689
So there's
flexibility ranks

1846
00:58:30,689 --> 00:58:32,445
your bushes or barbed
wire or whatever.

1847
00:58:32,445 --> 00:58:34,260
Well, as to the use of

1848
00:58:34,260 --> 00:58:36,689
francophone French
people with

1849
00:58:36,689 --> 00:58:38,565
Sprint French
speaking abilities,

1850
00:58:38,565 --> 00:58:40,230
obviously, they would
have made use of

1851
00:58:40,230 --> 00:58:42,765
translators and all
kinds of situations.

1852
00:58:42,765 --> 00:58:46,200
When Pershing sat down

1853
00:58:46,200 --> 00:58:48,555
with Marshall bot
sure, whatever.

1854
00:58:48,555 --> 00:58:51,869
The language
wasn't completely

1855
00:58:51,869 --> 00:58:53,655
they weren't good
at using it.

1856
00:58:53,655 --> 00:58:56,474
But as far as I'm aware,

1857
00:58:56,474 --> 00:58:58,230
this isn't the
only capacity

1858
00:58:58,230 --> 00:58:58,919
in which sums were

1859
00:58:58,919 --> 00:59:01,019
major branch needed to

1860
00:59:01,019 --> 00:59:03,795
have simultaneous
translation.

1861
00:59:03,795 --> 00:59:05,639
And of course
again, you can just

1862
00:59:05,639 --> 00:59:07,409
marvel at how
hard that must

1863
00:59:07,409 --> 00:59:09,599
have been because
the other thing is

1864
00:59:09,599 --> 00:59:12,209
simply the consequences
of getting it wrong.

1865
00:59:12,209 --> 00:59:13,679
Wage So heavily on

1866
00:59:13,679 --> 00:59:14,820
these women's
hearts us when

1867
00:59:14,820 --> 00:59:16,545
reasons why they
were so devoted.

1868
00:59:16,545 --> 00:59:18,089
Because they
knew that if you

1869
00:59:18,089 --> 00:59:20,100
translate or wrong
or said it wrong,

1870
00:59:20,100 --> 00:59:22,079
that it was
someone's life.

1871
00:59:22,079 --> 00:59:25,769
So their ability to
speak and communicate,

1872
00:59:25,769 --> 00:59:27,869
communicate clearly
and effectively

1873
00:59:27,869 --> 00:59:30,640
was very important
part of their job.

1874
00:59:30,710 --> 00:59:34,080
There is another
question here,

1875
00:59:34,080 --> 00:59:36,420
which in many
ways compliments

1876
00:59:36,420 --> 00:59:39,209
that has to do
with what we

1877
00:59:39,209 --> 00:59:40,620
know about the backgrounds

1878
00:59:40,620 --> 00:59:42,419
were that many
of the women

1879
00:59:42,419 --> 00:59:44,745
sounds like or have
Francophone names

1880
00:59:44,745 --> 00:59:46,605
in the slides were they,

1881
00:59:46,605 --> 00:59:48,989
were immigrants
or descendants of

1882
00:59:48,989 --> 00:59:50,489
immigrants that they feel

1883
00:59:50,489 --> 00:59:51,299
or were they called,

1884
00:59:51,299 --> 00:59:53,160
we know to, to serve

1885
00:59:53,160 --> 00:59:55,410
and defend France as well.

1886
00:59:55,410 --> 00:59:56,459
Is there a is there

1887
00:59:56,459 --> 00:59:59,955
a Immigrant Connection
to the volunteers?

1888
00:59:59,955 --> 01:00:01,335
Yes, there weren't.

1889
01:00:01,335 --> 01:00:04,274
Many were immigrants
or descendants.

1890
01:00:04,274 --> 01:00:06,134
Some are actually
French Canadians.

1891
01:00:06,134 --> 01:00:08,639
So there was recruiting
done in Montreal,

1892
01:00:08,639 --> 01:00:10,110
for example, because

1893
01:00:10,110 --> 01:00:11,189
they're just so you know,

1894
01:00:11,189 --> 01:00:12,300
there was a concern
about getting

1895
01:00:12,300 --> 01:00:13,665
women who really were

1896
01:00:13,665 --> 01:00:15,299
swift in terms of

1897
01:00:15,299 --> 01:00:17,564
being able to
translate accurately.

1898
01:00:17,564 --> 01:00:20,070
So this was actually

1899
01:00:20,070 --> 01:00:21,750
quite a departure
from AT and T,

1900
01:00:21,750 --> 01:00:25,005
which otherwise never
hired immigrants.

1901
01:00:25,005 --> 01:00:27,419
And the reason
was because you

1902
01:00:27,419 --> 01:00:30,314
wanted every voice
to sound the same.

1903
01:00:30,314 --> 01:00:31,920
You wanted people to have

1904
01:00:31,920 --> 01:00:34,500
that same crisp
AT and T sound.

1905
01:00:34,500 --> 01:00:35,804
In fact, one
reporter said,

1906
01:00:35,804 --> 01:00:37,529
God bless the hello girls.

1907
01:00:37,529 --> 01:00:38,910
Because he would get
on the phone with

1908
01:00:38,910 --> 01:00:40,439
them and you'd be
like, Oh my God,

1909
01:00:40,439 --> 01:00:41,489
I feel like I'm
back in Los

1910
01:00:41,489 --> 01:00:43,354
Angeles and I feel
like I'm a port.

1911
01:00:43,354 --> 01:00:44,609
I feel like there's

1912
01:00:44,609 --> 01:00:46,005
this sort of
familiarity that,

1913
01:00:46,005 --> 01:00:47,744
that tone, that sound.

1914
01:00:47,744 --> 01:00:50,174
So, but of course some
of them would have had

1915
01:00:50,174 --> 01:00:51,480
a French accents and

1916
01:00:51,480 --> 01:00:52,500
previously AT and T

1917
01:00:52,500 --> 01:00:53,654
would not have
allowed that.

1918
01:00:53,654 --> 01:00:55,154
But that opened up

1919
01:00:55,154 --> 01:00:57,270
that field more to
immigrant women.

1920
01:00:57,270 --> 01:00:59,430
Now sunlight grace banker,

1921
01:00:59,430 --> 01:01:00,869
very interestingly, she

1922
01:01:00,869 --> 01:01:02,519
does learned in college.

1923
01:01:02,519 --> 01:01:04,994
So I had fun
tracking her down

1924
01:01:04,994 --> 01:01:08,325
because I was very
curious by the way.

1925
01:01:08,325 --> 01:01:10,260
It was actually
against protocol to

1926
01:01:10,260 --> 01:01:12,645
keep a diary. This is war.

1927
01:01:12,645 --> 01:01:14,399
And these women were very,

1928
01:01:14,399 --> 01:01:16,050
very carefully scrutinized

1929
01:01:16,050 --> 01:01:17,475
by army intelligence.

1930
01:01:17,475 --> 01:01:19,980
And there they literally

1931
01:01:19,980 --> 01:01:21,990
were handling
national secrets.

1932
01:01:21,990 --> 01:01:23,715
So in fact, some of the
women who were like,

1933
01:01:23,715 --> 01:01:25,065
You look too much
like an immigrant,

1934
01:01:25,065 --> 01:01:26,729
me know, was one woman

1935
01:01:26,729 --> 01:01:28,664
who they said
she's Jewish.

1936
01:01:28,664 --> 01:01:29,519
So she must be from

1937
01:01:29,519 --> 01:01:30,569
Germany and she's like No,

1938
01:01:30,569 --> 01:01:33,285
no, we're Romanian Jews.

1939
01:01:33,285 --> 01:01:34,950
You don't
understand. So she

1940
01:01:34,950 --> 01:01:36,330
eventually Rock
Dr. way in,

1941
01:01:36,330 --> 01:01:38,654
but it was kinda funny.

1942
01:01:38,654 --> 01:01:41,879
And so Grace banker
was a person

1943
01:01:41,879 --> 01:01:43,349
who turned out had

1944
01:01:43,349 --> 01:01:44,820
simply been a
double-major.

1945
01:01:44,820 --> 01:01:46,770
It's very curious, but
she was majored in in

1946
01:01:46,770 --> 01:01:48,734
college because
she kept a diary.

1947
01:01:48,734 --> 01:01:50,745
Now that was against
the regulations

1948
01:01:50,745 --> 01:01:52,425
and she was their
supervisor.

1949
01:01:52,425 --> 01:01:54,134
So why would
grace banker of

1950
01:01:54,134 --> 01:01:56,160
all people had done

1951
01:01:56,160 --> 01:01:58,080
this naughty,
naughty thing?

1952
01:01:58,080 --> 01:02:00,029
And I thought to
myself, I wonder

1953
01:02:00,029 --> 01:02:01,020
if she was a double-major.

1954
01:02:01,020 --> 01:02:01,979
What was your other major?

1955
01:02:01,979 --> 01:02:03,150
I wonder if she was maybe

1956
01:02:03,150 --> 01:02:05,700
aka a history major.

1957
01:02:05,700 --> 01:02:08,340
So I contact Bernard
College where she got

1958
01:02:08,340 --> 01:02:08,909
her degree in there

1959
01:02:08,909 --> 01:02:10,515
like Grace banker,
double-major.

1960
01:02:10,515 --> 01:02:12,255
Double-major in
French history.

1961
01:02:12,255 --> 01:02:16,245
So I think that's why
she kept that diary.

1962
01:02:16,245 --> 01:02:20,190
Sounds like a woman after
my own heart there.

1963
01:02:20,190 --> 01:02:22,289
I have a question and

1964
01:02:22,289 --> 01:02:23,580
we have time for
maybe a couple more,

1965
01:02:23,580 --> 01:02:26,850
I hope, from a colleague,
Richard Baylor,

1966
01:02:26,850 --> 01:02:29,114
who asks our notes this

1967
01:02:29,114 --> 01:02:30,420
time was the appearance

1968
01:02:30,420 --> 01:02:31,889
on the scene of Taylorism,

1969
01:02:31,889 --> 01:02:35,474
efficiency, et cetera,
and telephony.

1970
01:02:35,474 --> 01:02:38,880
Telephony. Sorry if
I tried to laugh,

1971
01:02:38,880 --> 01:02:40,080
I'm going to call
it telephony.

1972
01:02:40,080 --> 01:02:42,089
Dolphin was one of
the areas where this

1973
01:02:42,089 --> 01:02:44,295
was applied most
assiduously.

1974
01:02:44,295 --> 01:02:46,199
What kind of training,
supervision,

1975
01:02:46,199 --> 01:02:48,810
et cetera, that the
operators undergo?

1976
01:02:48,810 --> 01:02:52,124
Yes, you're exactly
right. Great question.

1977
01:02:52,124 --> 01:02:54,524
There was a lot of rigor

1978
01:02:54,524 --> 01:02:57,299
to get that uniformity
in response.

1979
01:02:57,299 --> 01:03:00,974
They had, they had
essentially scripts.

1980
01:03:00,974 --> 01:03:03,420
And in fact, sometimes
people will say

1981
01:03:03,420 --> 01:03:05,999
Why is the book called
The hello girls on.

1982
01:03:05,999 --> 01:03:07,830
You have to understand
that these operators

1983
01:03:07,830 --> 01:03:09,715
never said hello.

1984
01:03:09,715 --> 01:03:12,709
They said number, place,

1985
01:03:12,709 --> 01:03:14,615
or whatever the equivalent

1986
01:03:14,615 --> 01:03:16,219
was in French at the time.

1987
01:03:16,219 --> 01:03:19,190
And so they had very
careful scripts.

1988
01:03:19,190 --> 01:03:20,480
And that's part
of the reason

1989
01:03:20,480 --> 01:03:22,084
that they were so speedy.

1990
01:03:22,084 --> 01:03:22,999
And the speed was

1991
01:03:22,999 --> 01:03:24,889
so important in
connections.

1992
01:03:24,889 --> 01:03:27,319
They were meant to be
almost human machines.

1993
01:03:27,319 --> 01:03:28,369
And of course, Taylorism

1994
01:03:28,369 --> 01:03:29,539
was partly about making

1995
01:03:29,539 --> 01:03:31,879
the person more
machine-like wishes.

1996
01:03:31,879 --> 01:03:33,889
One reasons why they,
unions hated them.

1997
01:03:33,889 --> 01:03:36,245
A lot of workers
hated Taylorism.

1998
01:03:36,245 --> 01:03:38,089
But it served a very

1999
01:03:38,089 --> 01:03:40,919
important purpose
in this case.

2000
01:03:41,980 --> 01:03:45,830
And a question from Janet,

2001
01:03:45,830 --> 01:03:47,269
when the government
finally recognize

2002
01:03:47,269 --> 01:03:48,350
their service,

2003
01:03:48,350 --> 01:03:49,910
Were there any retroactive

2004
01:03:49,910 --> 01:03:51,815
benefits that
they receive?

2005
01:03:51,815 --> 01:03:53,449
Well, thank you
for that question.

2006
01:03:53,449 --> 01:03:55,714
Yes. So it took
them 60 years.

2007
01:03:55,714 --> 01:04:01,189
They came back in
a 999 and in 1979,

2008
01:04:01,189 --> 01:04:03,020
rural even got
her discharge

2009
01:04:03,020 --> 01:04:04,684
papers in Seattle.

2010
01:04:04,684 --> 01:04:07,550
There were only about
30 women left out of

2011
01:04:07,550 --> 01:04:09,380
the more than 300

2012
01:04:09,380 --> 01:04:10,940
who had been trained
and put in uniform,

2013
01:04:10,940 --> 01:04:13,430
there were only 233
served in France,

2014
01:04:13,430 --> 01:04:14,720
but there were others
on the dock at

2015
01:04:14,720 --> 01:04:16,984
Hoboken waiting to go,

2016
01:04:16,984 --> 01:04:18,680
as there were other men in

2017
01:04:18,680 --> 01:04:19,969
uniform weighting
to go when

2018
01:04:19,969 --> 01:04:21,364
the war was suddenly over,

2019
01:04:21,364 --> 01:04:22,640
there was the thought
that the world

2020
01:04:22,640 --> 01:04:24,139
was going to go into 999.

2021
01:04:24,139 --> 01:04:26,584
So they were busily
training people.

2022
01:04:26,584 --> 01:04:29,599
And so we know
what happens in

2023
01:04:29,599 --> 01:04:30,770
the end is that

2024
01:04:30,770 --> 01:04:32,719
they do get their
discharge papers.

2025
01:04:32,719 --> 01:04:34,865
They don't really
get much for that.

2026
01:04:34,865 --> 01:04:36,739
There's no one woman

2027
01:04:36,739 --> 01:04:38,884
said Now do I get
my back wages?

2028
01:04:38,884 --> 01:04:42,050
Do I get my bonus
that all the men and

2029
01:04:42,050 --> 01:04:45,259
women who otherwise
served got none.

2030
01:04:45,259 --> 01:04:46,549
If none of that, then

2031
01:04:46,549 --> 01:04:48,215
one woman spoke, I
think for many of them,

2032
01:04:48,215 --> 01:04:52,950
she said, All I want
is a flag on my cough.

2033
01:04:53,200 --> 01:04:55,924
I want that recognition.

2034
01:04:55,924 --> 01:04:57,379
I don't want
people call me

2035
01:04:57,379 --> 01:04:58,850
that saying I
wasn't a soldier.

2036
01:04:58,850 --> 01:05:00,950
In fact, one of the
most tragic objections

2037
01:05:00,950 --> 01:05:02,930
I thought to the

2038
01:05:02,930 --> 01:05:03,410
women's

2039
01:05:03,410 --> 01:05:04,940
acknowledging the women's
service came from

2040
01:05:04,940 --> 01:05:06,110
the Veterans
Administration

2041
01:05:06,110 --> 01:05:07,040
in the early sixties.

2042
01:05:07,040 --> 01:05:08,539
And one of the
women wrote because

2043
01:05:08,539 --> 01:05:10,325
basically they
petition Congress.

2044
01:05:10,325 --> 01:05:11,809
They petitioned under

2045
01:05:11,809 --> 01:05:13,160
Franklin Delano Roosevelt,

2046
01:05:13,160 --> 01:05:14,570
they petitioned
under Harry Truman,

2047
01:05:14,570 --> 01:05:15,890
they petitioned
under Eisenhower,

2048
01:05:15,890 --> 01:05:19,109
they petitioned
under Nixon and

2049
01:05:19,109 --> 01:05:21,300
Kennedy and Ford and

2050
01:05:21,300 --> 01:05:22,680
will not four
but up through,

2051
01:05:22,680 --> 01:05:24,210
yeah, For it up
through Jimmy Carter.

2052
01:05:24,210 --> 01:05:25,680
Jimmy Carter who
finally signed

2053
01:05:25,680 --> 01:05:27,269
the bill all those

2054
01:05:27,269 --> 01:05:28,950
decades without knowing
how it was going

2055
01:05:28,950 --> 01:05:31,289
to turn out.
They persisted.

2056
01:05:31,289 --> 01:05:34,050
And but one of the
objections that the that

2057
01:05:34,050 --> 01:05:35,520
the Veterans
Administration set in

2058
01:05:35,520 --> 01:05:37,365
960 is what you see.

2059
01:05:37,365 --> 01:05:39,224
If we called you veterans,

2060
01:05:39,224 --> 01:05:41,129
it would sort of cheapen

2061
01:05:41,129 --> 01:05:43,845
the notion of what
makes for a veteran.

2062
01:05:43,845 --> 01:05:45,570
All kinds of
volunteers who

2063
01:05:45,570 --> 01:05:47,760
worked on the
sides of the war.

2064
01:05:47,760 --> 01:05:49,350
Ambulance drivers like

2065
01:05:49,350 --> 01:05:50,819
Henry Ernest Hemingway,

2066
01:05:50,819 --> 01:05:52,199
they could call
himself a veteran.

2067
01:05:52,199 --> 01:05:53,099
And what would that do to

2068
01:05:53,099 --> 01:05:55,004
the standing of veterans?

2069
01:05:55,004 --> 01:05:57,059
So these women just wanted

2070
01:05:57,059 --> 01:05:59,650
to be called veterans.

2071
01:06:00,130 --> 01:06:02,540
Well, I've got
several questions

2072
01:06:02,540 --> 01:06:04,820
here and they might
hopefully it'll be brief.

2073
01:06:04,820 --> 01:06:05,344
I'm going to try to

2074
01:06:05,344 --> 01:06:06,319
squeeze them
all into four.

2075
01:06:06,319 --> 01:06:08,555
We for your
voice goes out.

2076
01:06:08,555 --> 01:06:10,580
So one quick question.

2077
01:06:10,580 --> 01:06:12,590
Fdr was assistant
secretary

2078
01:06:12,590 --> 01:06:13,744
at the time, a
medievalist.

2079
01:06:13,744 --> 01:06:14,990
I don't know what
he was secretary.

2080
01:06:14,990 --> 01:06:15,770
I'm, I'm embarrassed to

2081
01:06:15,770 --> 01:06:18,980
say true confession here,

2082
01:06:18,980 --> 01:06:21,484
but where were
the Roosevelts

2083
01:06:21,484 --> 01:06:24,170
involved at all are
connected at all to this.

2084
01:06:24,170 --> 01:06:24,889
And then I'm just going

2085
01:06:24,889 --> 01:06:26,239
to piggyback the second,

2086
01:06:26,239 --> 01:06:27,694
third ones on here.

2087
01:06:27,694 --> 01:06:30,424
So the Roosevelt's
second one,

2088
01:06:30,424 --> 01:06:32,779
did the women have a
working rank beyond

2089
01:06:32,779 --> 01:06:35,585
officer and
presumably enlisted?

2090
01:06:35,585 --> 01:06:37,130
Did they go back
to their old jobs

2091
01:06:37,130 --> 01:06:38,675
on returning the
civilian world?

2092
01:06:38,675 --> 01:06:40,265
And then the last one.

2093
01:06:40,265 --> 01:06:41,469
And then we'll
close it out.

2094
01:06:41,469 --> 01:06:42,720
Where these women
involved in

2095
01:06:42,720 --> 01:06:44,429
wiretapping of
the enemy are

2096
01:06:44,429 --> 01:06:46,589
only responsible
for communication

2097
01:06:46,589 --> 01:06:47,939
with an ally, ally line.

2098
01:06:47,939 --> 01:06:51,854
So Roosevelt's right and

2099
01:06:51,854 --> 01:06:53,744
wire tapping to throw,

2100
01:06:53,744 --> 01:06:54,870
you might have
to remind me

2101
01:06:54,870 --> 01:06:56,614
the error case I
start, I will.

2102
01:06:56,614 --> 01:06:58,139
So the Roosevelts,
I'm unaware

2103
01:06:58,139 --> 01:06:59,580
of there being
any connection.

2104
01:06:59,580 --> 01:07:02,999
Although George
Marshall, who served

2105
01:07:02,999 --> 01:07:06,720
so heroically under
FDR in World War II,

2106
01:07:06,720 --> 01:07:08,820
he knew the hello
girls and he

2107
01:07:08,820 --> 01:07:10,769
was seeing what had
happened to them,

2108
01:07:10,769 --> 01:07:14,790
knowing the the confusion
over their rank.

2109
01:07:14,790 --> 01:07:16,470
He was apart and very

2110
01:07:16,470 --> 01:07:18,645
much engaged in
World War Two.

2111
01:07:18,645 --> 01:07:20,459
And getting the
Women's Army Corps

2112
01:07:20,459 --> 01:07:22,530
approved and 943.

2113
01:07:22,530 --> 01:07:24,495
There is a connection
in that sense,

2114
01:07:24,495 --> 01:07:27,059
not Roosevelt
personally but through

2115
01:07:27,059 --> 01:07:28,350
George Marshall
is this sort

2116
01:07:28,350 --> 01:07:30,255
of lineal character who,

2117
01:07:30,255 --> 01:07:32,729
who pulls through in
terms of their ranks,

2118
01:07:32,729 --> 01:07:34,530
the women there were,
they didn't have

2119
01:07:34,530 --> 01:07:35,549
military rank than what

2120
01:07:35,549 --> 01:07:37,244
was called relative rank.

2121
01:07:37,244 --> 01:07:39,300
And this is a period by
the time, by the way,

2122
01:07:39,300 --> 01:07:42,389
when even medical
personnel have no rank.

2123
01:07:42,389 --> 01:07:44,640
Now we might say somebody
has a kernel and

2124
01:07:44,640 --> 01:07:47,549
a doctor in the US
Army at that time.

2125
01:07:47,549 --> 01:07:48,900
And medical personnel were

2126
01:07:48,900 --> 01:07:50,325
doctors and nurses.

2127
01:07:50,325 --> 01:07:51,719
So they didn't have

2128
01:07:51,719 --> 01:07:53,369
ranks they had were
called relative ranks,

2129
01:07:53,369 --> 01:07:54,869
although they
were acknowledges

2130
01:07:54,869 --> 01:07:56,550
as part of the Army,

2131
01:07:56,550 --> 01:07:57,719
although they were not yet

2132
01:07:57,719 --> 01:07:59,489
soldiers in the army.

2133
01:07:59,489 --> 01:08:01,364
These women,
its job was to

2134
01:08:01,364 --> 01:08:03,644
help the army
prosecuted as war.

2135
01:08:03,644 --> 01:08:06,735
When not just bind
up the wounds.

2136
01:08:06,735 --> 01:08:08,609
They had just
sort of ranks

2137
01:08:08,609 --> 01:08:10,620
which were like operator,

2138
01:08:10,620 --> 01:08:13,170
chief operator,
supervising operator.

2139
01:08:13,170 --> 01:08:14,804
So they had some
ranks within,

2140
01:08:14,804 --> 01:08:17,475
within their group
so that people like

2141
01:08:17,475 --> 01:08:18,794
crazy banker
could tell them

2142
01:08:18,794 --> 01:08:20,220
what they must do
and what they must.

2143
01:08:20,220 --> 01:08:20,925
Not two.

2144
01:08:20,925 --> 01:08:23,430
And the third
question was,

2145
01:08:23,430 --> 01:08:25,889
were they involved
as spies, wire time?

2146
01:08:25,889 --> 01:08:27,659
No, they were not.

2147
01:08:27,659 --> 01:08:29,159
And I think that's
largely because they

2148
01:08:29,159 --> 01:08:30,644
had such a big job.

2149
01:08:30,644 --> 01:08:32,385
The job they were doing.

2150
01:08:32,385 --> 01:08:34,619
There were men
in the field.

2151
01:08:34,619 --> 01:08:36,779
There were field
radios, right?

2152
01:08:36,779 --> 01:08:37,470
Feel that up.

2153
01:08:37,470 --> 01:08:40,440
I'm sorry, telephone
exchange boxes.

2154
01:08:40,440 --> 01:08:43,199
And so there were
men following lines,

2155
01:08:43,199 --> 01:08:46,050
probably tapping German
lines, et cetera.

2156
01:08:46,050 --> 01:08:47,549
But that would have
been something in

2157
01:08:47,549 --> 01:08:48,510
the field rather than

2158
01:08:48,510 --> 01:08:49,560
at the telephone exchange

2159
01:08:49,560 --> 01:08:50,699
where you're just trying

2160
01:08:50,699 --> 01:08:51,900
to make sure the
connection goes

2161
01:08:51,900 --> 01:08:53,714
through and then it's

2162
01:08:53,714 --> 01:08:56,679
that the people
understand each other.

2163
01:08:56,900 --> 01:08:59,130
We'll thank you and

2164
01:08:59,130 --> 01:09:01,259
my thanks to our
listeners and

2165
01:09:01,259 --> 01:09:02,594
viewers tonight for really

2166
01:09:02,594 --> 01:09:04,890
a wonderful range
of questions.

2167
01:09:04,890 --> 01:09:06,509
But above all, thank you,

2168
01:09:06,509 --> 01:09:08,670
Elizabeth for joining
us this evening and

2169
01:09:08,670 --> 01:09:10,950
presenting your research
on the hello girls.

2170
01:09:10,950 --> 01:09:12,240
It's been, I
just have a five

2171
01:09:12,240 --> 01:09:13,770
is an engaging talk.

2172
01:09:13,770 --> 01:09:15,299
One of the sad things is

2173
01:09:15,299 --> 01:09:16,440
you can't hear
the applause

2174
01:09:16,440 --> 01:09:18,660
of what I'm sure it's
very grateful audience,

2175
01:09:18,660 --> 01:09:19,859
but thank you so much

2176
01:09:19,859 --> 01:09:21,389
for joining us here

2177
01:09:21,389 --> 01:09:22,619
at Portland
State and thank

2178
01:09:22,619 --> 01:09:23,939
you all who are out

2179
01:09:23,939 --> 01:09:25,350
there watching for
spending part of

2180
01:09:25,350 --> 01:09:26,669
your evening with us
and we hope to see

2181
01:09:26,669 --> 01:09:28,110
you at another one of

2182
01:09:28,110 --> 01:09:29,400
our talks coming up

2183
01:09:29,400 --> 01:09:31,875
later this spring.
Thank you so much.

2184
01:09:31,875 --> 01:09:33,849
Thank you.