DATE WITH HISTORY: “HELLO GIRLS – AMERICA’S FIRST WOMEN SOLDIERS”

On the eve of American involvement in World War I, the Selective Service Act drafted 2.8 million American men to do their part for home and country.

300 remarkable women known as “The Hello Girls” were selected to operate the vital communications network that helped win WWI.  Each came from a different geographic and economic background, but they were united in their fierce patriotism and determination to prove that women had a role to play on the war front, not just the home front.

Meet the Author: Award-winning historian Elizabeth Cobbs brings fresh, unexpected perspectives to our understanding of the past and present. Building upon worldwide research and extraordinary life experiences, Elizabeth writes best selling  fiction and non-fiction that is both scholarly and witty. Her path-breaking books and articles reveal a world that is as intriguing and surprising as it is real.

Elizabeth earned her Ph.D. in American history at Stanford University. She now holds the Melbern Glasscock Chair at Texas A&M University and a Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Her books have won four literary prizes, two for American history and two for fiction. Elizabeth has been a Fulbright scholar in Ireland and a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. She has served on the Historical Advisory Committee of the U.S. State Department and on the jury for the Pulitzer Prize in History.

Copies of the featured book will be sold at the Cantigny Gift Shop before and after the discussion.

A cash bar will be available along with a small selection of food. Coffee is complimentary.

This event is part of the First Division Museum’s popular series, A Date with History. The monthly programs feature an evening of lively discussion with authors, panelists, historians, and special speakers.