Women in Radio History – The Gilbert Girl
In the Ham Radio Operators group on Facebook, a fellow ham from Bellingham, Washington shared a poster he had found. Within the thread of comments, someone shared an article about the picture and its history, which included some history of women and their struggle for relevance in the early wireless telegraph days. In particular, those involved on ships.
The story followed a Miss Graynella Packer, how she got into the business of wireless telegraphy, and how her ear for music helped her hone in on and separate different transmissions of morse code. It is a very interesting read.
The article, in PDF form: Radio Age, The Newsletter of the Mid-Atlantic Antique Radio Club from December 2007
Bradley would you know where to get a poster of Charles Allen Gilbert picture of female wireless operator AKA the The Gilbert Girl?
My 10 year old granddaughter is studying morse code and I would like to get her this poster for her room.
Thanks Paul Kw1L
Hi Paul,
I’m so sorry I didn’t get back to you until now. I honestly have no idea where to find the poster. I did some Google searching, and came up completely empty. However, you may be able to have a place print a small copy of the image. Maybe with modern AI, it can be upscaled without much loss of quality.
Best,
Brad KC1JMH