For 60 years the Hello Girls fought for veterans status

The Hello Girls were sworn into the U.S. Army Signal Corps as telephone switchboard operators in World War I ― playing a vital role in the ending of the war. This group of 223 women were the first female soldiers in the U.S., and 37 of them called California home.

When these brave women returned home, they were told they had not served in the Army, despite wearing uniforms, taking Army oaths, and previously being told, “You’re in the Army now.”

The Hello Girls fought for more than 60 years to get their veterans status, with more than 50 bills being introduced into Congress that did not pass. Finally, in 1977, bipartisan legislation passed and was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter. However, most of the Hello Girls did not live to see the day of this victory; and those who did weren’t given veteran benefits or back paychecks.

Many of the Hello Girls are buried without veterans recognition on their headstones, still fighting for acknowledgment over 100 years later.

One of the California Hello Girls Juliette Louise Courtial Smith was discovered buried in Sonoma in an unmarked grave; without recognition for her service ― or a headstone at all.

Sonoman Maeve Smith, who is directing the Sonoma Arts Live production of the Broadway musical, “The Hello Girls,” came across Courtial’s resting place while conducting research for the play.

Smith said making this discovery felt “very Sonoma,” with all the intertwining connections and history here. Courtial is buried in the Saint Francis Solano Cemetery located couple of blocks away from the Community Center where the play is showing April 19 through May 5.

Smith worked with the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission (WWICC) and the American Legion to get Courtial a proper headstone. The WWICC is doing national work on getting the Hello Girls recognition including an effort to get these women the Congressional Gold Medal.

“Since the seventies, people are going back to try to give these women their status, their recognition, their benefits that they deserve, which means their families deserve,” Smith said. “And there are other women that the committee is doing this for all over the country. So it's just a complete coincidence, that we found out Juliette is here, that we're doing this production and that we might be able to do this work for her.”

Members of the WWICC, the Doughboy Foundation and descendants of the Hello Girls attended the Call on the Hill for the Hello Girls on Jan. 18, where they walked the halls of the U.S. Senate office buildings to encourage Senators to co-sponsor Senate Bill (S.815) “The Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2023.”

The Senate Resolution states the Hello Girls merit the recognition of a Congressional Gold Medal for “their role as pioneers who paved the way for all women in uniform, and for service that was essential to victory in World War I.”

Carolyn Timbie, the granddaughter of Hello Girl Chief Operator Grace Banker who will be portrayed in the Sonoma Arts Live production, said legislation for the Congressional Gold Medal now has 51 co-sponsors in the Senate and 96 in the House of Representatives.

“We are making progress, but we are really trying to get more people,” Timbie said. “We usually have props, I show my grandmother’s helmet, we show our photos, we tell our stories, and most people say, ‘Oh my gosh, how did I not know about this? And how can we not support this?’”

Hello Girl descendants, the WWICC and the Doughboy Foundation are working to uncover where these women are buried and getting them proper headstones with veterans recognition.

Gen. John J. Pershing made the direct call for these women to serve overseas, and 7,600 volunteered. The 223 selected women spoke fluent English and French and connected more than 26,000,000 calls by Nov. 11, 1918.

The Hello Girls also served at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 in the occupation of Germany, and some moved forward with the First Army for service in the battles of St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne in 1918.

These women risked their lives, volunteering to do so ― and two of them never returned home. Inez Crittenden died of influenza on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918, and Corah Bartlett died of typhoid fever in 1919.

Catherine Bourgin, the granddaughter of Hello Girl Marie Edmee LeRoux, is working with the WWICC and the Doughboy Foundation to award the Hello Girls with the Congressional Gold Medal.

“I am deeply moved and very proud of what she did. She was a very independent, strong spirited, courageous woman,” Bourgin said in reference to her grandmother.

Bourign, Timbie, and many other descendants of the Hello Girls, have learned details about these women through research and uncovering history from that time.

“These women came from all walks of life. At that point in our history, women were still very much either under their father’s roof, or they had to be under their husband’s roof. They couldn’t even hold their own passports,” Bourgin said. “You were expected to get some education, get married, have a family and run the household. And then, all these women went off to war. I find them inspiring.”

The Congressional Gold Medal has been awarded to other groups in the U.S. Army for their honorable service. The medal is awarded to individuals or groups who have made a major and long-standing impact on American history and culture ― which these women certainly did.

Pershing gave the Hello Girls credit for their notable contribution towards the ending of the war, at one point stating if it wasn’t for theses courageous women’s dedicated service, he believed the war would have continued on for much longer, resulting in the loss of many more lives.

These women went to war before being granted their right to vote, which passed in Congress in 1919, by no coincidence.

To support the cause to get the Hello Girls the Congressional Gold Medal, visit for steps to write to Congress at https://ww1cc.org/715-valor-medals/valor-medals-meet-the-heroes/7321-hello-girls-congress.html.

To learn more about the call for Congressional Gold Medal legislation for the Hello Girls, reference the Doughboy Foundation Staff article, “Call on the Hill for the Hello Girls seeks support for Congressional Gold Medal legislation,” and “America’s first women soldiers of WWI deserve the Congressional Gold Medal,” by Donna Diamond Ayres, Catherine Bourgin, Candy McCorkell, and Carolyn Timbie, via https://doughboy.org/.

For the full list of the California Hello Girls, reference “The Californians of the Hello Girls” via https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/california-in-ww1-then.html.

A documentary on the first U.S. female soldiers, “The Hello Girls,” by filmmaker James Theres, who is also involved with the WWICC, can be viewed on Amazon Prime Video. Theres has also created a virtual cemetery for the Hello Girls that can be found at https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/1778461?page=1#sr-197493610.

The Sonoma Arts Live production of “The Hello Girls” is showing in Andrews Hall at the Community Center from April 19 - May 5. For more information, visit, https://www.sonomaartslive.org/.

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Molloy at emma.molloy@sonomanews.com.