Overview
Papers of Louise Barbour, who served as a telephone operator with the Signal Corps in France during World War I.
Dates
- Creation: 1917-1942
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Louise Barbour is held by President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Schlesinger Library. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.
Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.
Extent
.21 linear feet ((1/2 file box) plus 2 photograph folders)This collection consists of correspondence to the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and to friends, memoranda, telephone directories, mementos of the Signal Corps, and Barbour's article for AT&T's Bell Quarterly on women in the telephone industry and in the Signal Corps.
BIOGRAPHY
Louise Barbour served as a telephone operator with the Signal Corps in France during World War I, 1918-1919. In August 1918 she was made Chief Operator of the Signal Service at Large in Tours, a position she held for the rest of the war. These French-speaking telephone operators were recruited by General Pershing from American Telephone and Telegraph Company, for which Barbour had worked before the war, and were to help American soldiers with no knowledge of French in telephone conversations. In 1935 AT&T began planning an article for the Bell Quarterly on women in the telephone industry, including a section on the Signal Corps, by sending out questionnaires to former employees. Much of the correspondence in this collection has to do with this article. Helen Cook, often mentioned in this collection, also served as an operator with the Signal Corps.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number: 70-4
The papers of Louise Barbour were deposited with the Schlesinger Library in 1970 by Louise Barbour.
Processing Information
Processed: February 1976
By: Joellen Wlodkowski
Subject
- American Telephone and Telegraph Company (Organization)
- Title
- Barbour, Louise. Papers of Louise Barbour, 1917-1942: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- sch00012
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.