Switchboard Soldiers

Switchboard SoldiersDescription by Jennifer Chiaverini Paperback In June 1917, General John Pershing arrived in France to establish American forces in Europe. He immediately found himself unable to communicate with troops in the field. Pershing needed telephone operators who could swiftly and accurately connect multiple calls, speak fluent French and English, remain steady under fire, and be utterly discreet, since the calls often conveyed classified information. At the

These efforts set important precedents for later developments in telephony

A remarkable story of high hopes and crushing disappointment

the racism and suspicion they faced

persisted throughout the First World War

Author Barbara Elizabeth Walsh and artist Layne Johnson worked with experts

In this landmark

Charles Edward Dilkes

and Harrison

particularly Jews

Considered in his time the greatest living American writer

A uniformed cupid challenges a draft-dodger

the Great War’s most decorated soldier