March 4, 2022
Colloquium Topic: The Telephone Ladies and Bell System's "Spirit of Service" During World War II
The history of World War II is dominated by tales of the technology and science used to wage and win the war. New inventions and innovations such as the proximity fuses, radar, submarines, airplanes, tanks, artillery, missiles, and the atomic bomb. However, older communication technology, especially the telephone, also played a key role in telecom systems on the home front and the battle front. In addition, the history of women during this era is dominated by images of “Rosie the Riveter” at defense plants across the USA. Yet, women in the more traditional role of telephone operator took jobs with telephone companies, joined the military, and were assigned U.S. Signal Corp posts abroad in far greater numbers than the “Hello Girls” of World War I.
The presentation focuses on the Bell System’s response to increased demand for telephone service during World War II as well as AT&T’s decisions to build more call centers, especially near state-side military bases, and to expand its female labor force. It concludes with the efforts of the U.S. Signal Corp to fill its ranks with women as men were shipped to the battle front.
Colloquium Speaker: Mary Ann Hellrigel
Mary Ann Hellrigel is the Institutional Historian and Archivist at the IEEE History Center since 2016. She earned her Ph.D. in the History of Technology and Science at Case Western Reserve University and has taught at universities for more than thirty years, including California State University, Chico; Stevens Institute of Technology; New Jersey Institute of Technology; SUNY Geneseo; and Iowa State University. Previously, she was an editor at the Thomas A. Edison Papers at Rutgers University (http://edison.rutgers.edu/) where she helped organize the archives at the Edison National Historical Park (https://www.nps.gov/edis/index.htm) and selected documents for the microfilm edition of the Edison Papers. Her research focuses on the invention, commercialization, and adoption of electric light, heat, and power technology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.