Who Were the Hello Girls Featured on Ellouisestory?

Updated

The Hello Girls were the female telephone operators who served with the U.S. Army during World War I. Ellouisestory, the blog of storyteller Ellouise Schoettler, features them because she performed their story professionally from 2013 to 2015, including at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. The blog's most recent Hello Girls post (dated 6/01/2025) describes a May 25, 2025 commemorative afternoon at the Museum of the United States Army, where a new plaque was unveiled and U.S. Army musicians performed.

What the Blog Says About the Hello Girls

According to the 6/01/2025 post, the Hello Girls' path to recognition was long: it took 60 years for the Army to recognize them as veterans, a delay the blog calls tragic. The post notes that over the past decade their service has finally begun to receive the recognition it deserves.

The same post credits the people behind the 2025 event:

  • Historian Diann Smith, who organized it
  • The Doughboy Foundation and the U.S. Army Museum
  • Two Hello Girls' granddaughters
  • Filmmaker Jim Theres
  • Colonel Linda Jantzen (retired), described as a good friend of the blog's author

Why the Blog Covers Them

Ellouisestory is the work of a professional storyteller, and the Hello Girls are one of her signature subjects. The blog states that from 2013 to 2015 she told their story at venues across the country, and the 2025 post reflects on how far that story has come in the decade since. The site also lists "THE HELLO GIRLS" as a standing section alongside her other projects, such as "ARLINGTON: My Forever Home" and "FINDING GUS."

How to Read More

The Hello Girls material sits within a blog that mixes personal essays, storytelling news, and history. Other dated posts on the page include a Halloween ghost-story entry (10/29/2023) and a reminiscence about hearing Gloria Steinem speak (3/08/2023). For the Hello Girls specifically, start with the 6/01/2025 post and the "THE HELLO GIRLS" section linked in the site's navigation.