Berlin Girl to Go as Phone Operator - 1918
Miss Elizabeth Roby, US Signal Corp Telephone Operator. The Hartford Courant, 20 March 1918. GGA Image ID # 19bbe8be74
Miss Elizabeth Roby Enlists in U. S. Signal Corps and Expects to be Sent to France in Near Future.
New Britain, 18 March 1918
When General Pershing, at the head of the American troops flanked on both sides by leaders of the English and French troops, with the Italians and other allies bringing up the rear, march “Unter den Linden” (under the linden trees ) in Berlin, there is a possibility that a Berlin, Connecticut girl will seat herself in the royal telephone office, shift a few plugs and notify King Edward over the wire at Buckingham palace that the big job is over, and that a certain Wilhelm, whose name and picture have appeared quite frequently since 1914 in the newspapers, is about to get his just deserve.
If such is the case, the chances are that the girl will be Miss Elizabeth Roby, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Roby of Berlin, Connecticut. Roby, a graduate of New Britain High School and Smith College, is at present making her home in Chicago, having moved there about three years ago, following completion of her college studies.
After concluding her college course, she accepted a place with the American Telephone & Telegraph Company and has since been engaged with that concern at the Chicago office, handling long-distance work and acting as instructress.
A short time ago, realizing that even though she is only a “mere woman,” there is room for her to do “her bit.” Miss Roby enlisted in the United States Signal Corps as a telephone operator and is currently studying hard in preparation for a trip across to France.
She hopes to see immediate service and expects to have her wish granted, and she is undergoing a thorough study of French. Her friends have received word of Miss Roby’s enlistment in Berlin and this city, and soon they expect to hear favorable reports of her work in the field.
Miss Roby’s parents are spending the winter months in Meriden but are expected to return to Berlin shortly for the summer.
“Berlin Girl to Go as Phone Operator,” in The Hartford Daily Courant, Wednesday, 20 March 1918, p. 7.
