Naomi K. Workman
Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company operator at Ocean City, Md. A cripple who could walk only with the aid of crutches, she stayed at the switchboard for fifteen hours through the storm of 4 February 1920 - the worst the town had seen in many years, which ruined the boardwalk, demolished several houses, put the basement and first floor of practically every house in town under water, broke the water supply, stopped the electric light plant and kept the Coast Guard from its customary patrol - while the building housing the exchange stood surrounded by water with its foundations in danger of washing out, and completed many emergency calls for help out of the flooded districts. For this she was awarded the Theodore N. Vail Distinguished Service Medal, announced in July 1921 and presented at Baltimore in December 1921, one of three Maryland operators honoured that year.
In the record (1)
1921
Naomi K. Workman, the Ocean City telephone operator who worked the switchboard on crutches for fifteen hours through the 1920 storm, is awarded the Theodore N. Vail medal.
"Miss Naomi K. Workman, a cripple who can only walk with the aid of crutches, remained on duty at the telephone office at Ocean City, Md., for fifteen hours during the worst storm experienced there in many years. This storm was the cause of damage estimated at $250,000. The boardwalk was ruined and several houses were completely demolished, the basement and the first floor of practically every house in the town being under water. The Coast Guard was unable to make its customary patrol and the water supply was broken and the electric light plant put out of service. In spite of the fact that the house in which the telephone exchange is located was surrounded by water and the foundations were in danger of being washed out, Miss Workman continued to operate the switchboard during the entire storm and completed many emergency calls for help from the flooded districts." The storm is dated 4 February 1920. Two other Maryland operators were honoured, from Baltimore and Cambridge. The medals - bronze, designed by Adolph A. Weinman, who designed the dime and the half-dollar then in circulation - were presented in Baltimore in December 1921, and the Cambridge account records that of the three "that of Miss Workman stands out because of the fact that she is a cripple and can walk only with the aid of crutches." The citation is also the most complete inventory of the February 1920 storm's damage the campaign has found in a single place.
Ocean City BoardwalkChesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company
Source · checked 2026-08-10