Name:
Afternoon Book Discussion at the Powell Library
Date:
August 12, 2025
Time:
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM MDT
Website:
https://parkcountylibrary.org/
Event Description:
August's Afternoon Book Discussion book will be available for pick up after July 1st!!
The discussion group will be meeting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, August 12th in the Homesteader Hall Meeting Room at the Park County Fairgrounds to discuss 'Switchboard Soldiers' by Jennifer Chiaverini
More about this fiction book:
From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini, a bold, revelatory novel about one of the great untold stories of World War I-the women of the US Army Signal Corps, who broke down gender barriers in the military, smashed the workplace glass ceiling, and battled a pandemic as they helped lead the Allies to victory. 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 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 time, nearly all well-trained American telephone operators were women, but women were not permitted to enlist, or even to vote in most states. Nevertheless, the U.S. Army Signal Corps promptly began recruiting them. More than 7,600 women responded, including Grace Banker of New Jersey, a switchboard instructor with AT & T and an alumna of Barnard College; Marie Miossec, a Frenchwoman and aspiring opera singer; and Valerie DeSmedt, a twenty-year-old Pacific Telephone operator from Los Angeles, determined to strike a blow for her native Belgium. They were among the first women sworn into the U.S. Army under the Articles of War. The male soldiers they had replaced had needed one minute to connect each call. The switchboard soldiers could do it in ten seconds. The risk of death was real, the women worked as bombs fell around them, as was the threat of a deadly new disease: the Spanish Flu. Not all of the telephone operators would survive.
To join the Afternoon Book Discussion Group, please ask for a copy at the circulation desk after July 1st or check it out on Libby!
The Park County Public Library, Powell is located in Homesteader Hall at the Park County Fairgrounds (655 E. 5th St.)
The discussion group will be meeting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, August 12th in the Homesteader Hall Meeting Room at the Park County Fairgrounds to discuss 'Switchboard Soldiers' by Jennifer Chiaverini
More about this fiction book:
From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini, a bold, revelatory novel about one of the great untold stories of World War I-the women of the US Army Signal Corps, who broke down gender barriers in the military, smashed the workplace glass ceiling, and battled a pandemic as they helped lead the Allies to victory. 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 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 time, nearly all well-trained American telephone operators were women, but women were not permitted to enlist, or even to vote in most states. Nevertheless, the U.S. Army Signal Corps promptly began recruiting them. More than 7,600 women responded, including Grace Banker of New Jersey, a switchboard instructor with AT & T and an alumna of Barnard College; Marie Miossec, a Frenchwoman and aspiring opera singer; and Valerie DeSmedt, a twenty-year-old Pacific Telephone operator from Los Angeles, determined to strike a blow for her native Belgium. They were among the first women sworn into the U.S. Army under the Articles of War. The male soldiers they had replaced had needed one minute to connect each call. The switchboard soldiers could do it in ten seconds. The risk of death was real, the women worked as bombs fell around them, as was the threat of a deadly new disease: the Spanish Flu. Not all of the telephone operators would survive.
To join the Afternoon Book Discussion Group, please ask for a copy at the circulation desk after July 1st or check it out on Libby!
The Park County Public Library, Powell is located in Homesteader Hall at the Park County Fairgrounds (655 E. 5th St.)
