Cartoon of female telephone operator from early 20th century
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“Hello Girls” Were the 1st Telephone Operators: An Astonishing Change for Single Women

ByBill LeFurgy

Revised March 26, 2025 The telephone and “Hello Girls” were wildly disruptive when they arrived at the end of the 19th century. They were radical innovations that brought change, not the least for single women, both in the workplace and in the male imagination. Women dominated the ranks of telephone operators early on, starting with…

Women doctors
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Women Doctors Faced Profound Challenges in the Early 20th Century

ByBill LeFurgy

Revised March 25, 2025 Women doctors now make up about 60 percent of practitioners under 35. The situation was very different in the past. No Women Doctors Need Apply In her book “Doctors Wanted, No Women Need Apply”: Sexual Barriers in the Medical Profession, 1835-1975, Mary Roth Walsh recounts the terrible difficulty women faced in…