International Women’s Day 2021: Jocelyn Koeneg, Lee Caron, Agnes Berchaminski and Ethel Stoke
by Braden Murray
International Women’s Day 2021—
To celebrate International Women’s Day, we are highlighting the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of Kenora area women.
Jocelyn Koeneg, Lee Caron, Agnes Berchaminski and Ethel Stokes (from left to right) were Kenora telephone operators. c1957
In those earlier days of telephone, manual switchboards were used and operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks, thereby connecting the necessary circuits. The job involved the technical task of connecting circuits, but also operators had to ensure that their voices were melodious and soft. Telephone operators were trained to use only certain phrases like “Number please” and “Thank you.”
Telephone operators like Jocelyn Koeneg, Lee Caron, Agnes Berchaminski and Ethel Stokes were essential to a growing town and helped connect Kenora to a new and exciting outside world.
Photographer unknown
Did you know?
The editor of the local newspaper pushed for Kenora to be named “Tresilva” instead. He thought the word was excellent because it could be written without lifting the pen off the paper. The name Tresilva was tremendously unpopular with the townsfolk and was quickly abandoned.