Today (December 13) at noon at the Old State House Museum, Kyra Schmidt, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas, will present her research about the female telephone operators’ strike in 1917 in Fort Smith.

Schmidt earned two bachelor’s degrees (one in history education and one in Spanish) from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and is currently working on her Master of Arts in History.

She specializes in minority politics with a focus on women’s labor movements in the 20th century and children in the Civil Rights Movement. Her presentation is entitled “Hello Girls on Strike: The Federal Government, Southwestern Bell Co., and the Strike That Turned Fort Smith Upside Done.”

Admission is free. Guests are welcome to bring their lunch, and the Old State House Museum provides drinks.