Adamson, Jessie “Dot”

Jessie “Dot” Adamson attended high school school in Princeton (1930, 1931).    She was employed by the B.C. Telephone Company from some time prior to October 1931 to July 1942, when she resigned and moved to Vancouver. 

While in Princeton, she was active in sports. She participated in the 1931 high school track meet, the Ladies’ Ski Race at the 1932 Ice Carnival, and was elected to the executive of the Princeton Tennis Club in April 1932. She was still playing tennis locally in 1939. However, she excelled at basketball, her name appearing regularly in the newspaper from 1931 to 1939. 

She received first aid certification from the Princeton Center St. John’s Ambulance in October 1930 and again 1936. This no doubt allowed her to compete for the Ben Bowen Shield at the Fourth Annual Mine Rescue field day in Princeton (1932) and for the Bennett Cup in 1937. 

In August 1932, she also became the operator for the volunteer fire department. 

Jessie Adamson helped make Princeton history when, a few moments before midnight on Sunday, October 25, 1931, she “went to her usual seat on the night shift” at Princeton’s brand new telephone exchange. The Princeton Star (October 29, 1931) reported that: “With the pulling of two switches and the snipping of a few temporary wires, one hundred and thirty telephones in Princeton and Coalmont, and connections with the entire outside world changed to a new control at the stroke of midnight…”

The new building was a was a “blessing” for the operators because “the quarters are much more commodious, comfortable, well-heated and well-lighted.”

Full article – here