Discovering America's only Black female WWI soldier

Plus: Jonestown massacre survivors speak out |

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By Made by History / Produced by Olivia B. Waxman African American heroines are everywhere in U.S. history — but they were often invisible even to contemporaries, hiding their identities to circumvent the racism that limited what they could do. That’s the case put forward by Elizabeth Cobbs in Made by History. Cobbs tells the story of Renee Messelin, one of the “Hello Girls,” who were part of the first unit of American women soldiers during World War I. Until just last week, it appeared as though all 233 Hello Girls, who worked as telephone operators, had been white. But new evidence confirms that Messelin was Black, and hid her identity because the Army would never have accepted her had they known her race.  Messelin served as a supervisor in the invaluable unit, which connected the calls that delivered battlefield orders throughout the war. She served with distinction, and was so valuable that she wasn’t discharged until 10 months after the armistice. Despite their importance, the Hello Girls had to fight for 60 years to gain recognition as veterans. This Juneteenth, Cobbs argues, Messelin’s service reminds us of the critical contributions made by women and African Americans to U.S. national defense and the value of pluralism for national security.

HISTORY ON TIME.COM How Doctors Came to Play a Key Role in the Abortion Debate By Emma Peterson and Daniel Martinez HoSang / Made by History While the phrase "between a woman and her doctor" has been used to protect abortion access, it also reflects physicians' outsized power. Read More » The Centennial of an Assassination in Italy Offers a Sober Warning for Today By Amy King & Brian J Griffith / Made by History Collective courage to stand up to authoritarians before it's too late is necessary to safeguard democracy. Read More » The Deep Roots of the Chiquita Verdict By Jack Werner / Made by History To understand the gravity of the legal decision against the banana company requires understanding its history. Read More » Slavery and Empire Still Mark the British Countryside By Corinne Fowler / Made by History Local and rural places were intertwined with violent global forces in the 18th and 19th centuries. Read More » Survivors and Witnesses Recall the Horrors of Jonestown in New Hulu Documentary By Olivia B. Waxman A NatGeo documentary on Hulu examines the Jonestown massacre through the stories of survivors and witnesses Read More »

FROM THE TIME VAULT This week in 1959: Shirley MacLaine Boris Chaliapin The June 22, 1959, cover of TIME “Shirley, at 25, is the brightest face, the freshest character and the most versatile new talent in Hollywood…Says Shirley, as if to explain herself: ‘This is a time of individuals in motion pictures. Movies are not made on the grand scale that they used to be—and neither are people. The movies are looking for something different and special, and I’m a combination of too many things to be part of a trend. When I see a door open, I walk through it. I’m sure not going to beat it down. I’m going along the crest now, and I’m enjoying the ride. I’ve got everything I want, and I don’t think everything’s happened too fast. Hell, no. I think I deserve it.’” Read More » This week in 1987: Child care in America Jade Albert The June 22, 1987, cover of TIME “Throughout the country, working parents are faced with a triple quandary: day care is hard to find, difficult to afford and often of distressingly poor quality. Waiting lists at good facilities are so long that parents apply for a spot months before their children are born. Or even earlier. The Empire State center in Farmingdale, N.Y., received an application from a woman attorney a week after she became engaged to marry. Apparently she hoped to time her pregnancy for an anticipated opening. The Jeanne Simon center in Burlington, Vt., has a folder of applications labeled ‘preconception.’” Read More » This week in 1998: Michael Jordan WALTER IOOSS JR. The June 22, 1998, cover of TIME “[H]e almost never loses his temper. He never appears so much as shirtless in the locker room and changes from shorts into a fine Italian suit for each short walk from hotel room to team bus, because those few seconds may be the only time those particular fans crowding the lobby see him, and he wants to get it right…He makes us believe, against our own experience, that hard work can reward–that even 0.8 sec. means there is hope. And in doing so, he has defined masculinity despite publicly admitting that his favorite performers are Toni Braxton and Anita Baker; this guy could say his favorite movie was Beaches, and he’d still be the alpha male.” Read More »

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