100 Years, 100 Artifacts #26. Today we are honoring Women's History Month with an artifact of another ground breaking female veteran.
100 Years, 100 Artifacts #26. Today we are honoring Women's History Month with an artifact of another ground breaking female veteran. Today we are featuring the phone harness used by Telephone Operator Stella M. Viau (1892-1974), who was assigned to the Women's Telephone Operator Unit (The Hello Girls) in France. She was assigned to the Base at Saint-Nazaire (A Newport News Sister City!) from June of 1918 to June of 1919. A native of Fitchburg, MA, she was one of nine children of Quebecois parents who emigrated to work in the mills of Fitchburg in 1891. She was bilingual and spoke native French as well as English. Her family had the distinction of having six children who served in uniform during the war - all volunteers. Four served in the Army, one in the Navy, and Stella who served in the Hello Girls.