Inez Ann Crittenden

Inez Ann Crittenden (Murphy) AKA "Hello Girl"

Chief Operator, U.S. Army Signal Corps

• An Executive Assistant turned an "Hello Girl" during WWI: Inez Ann Murphy Crittenden
• Find A Grave Memorial ID # 55952574
• Tribute to US Army Signal Corps Chief Telephone Operator 1887-1918

Inez Crittenden was an American communications volunteer, also known as a "Hello Girl." Inez was born in September 1887, and raised in a bi-lingual (French and English) household. She never received a formal education, but through natural instincts and a disciplined approach to her job, she gained the trust and confidence of employers.

When war broke out, Inez was working as the Executive Assistant of a San Francisco packing company and had recently served as chief negotiator for a business deal. That accomplishment provided ample evidence of her skill as a manager, leader, negotiator, and as a mature professional; all of which she included in her application as an Operator to the U.S. Army Signal Corps in December of 1917.

After passing a French language test, she was selected to join by Signal Corps leadership, becoming Chief Operator, 2nd Telephone Unit. The Signal Corps had decided that the Operators should be integrated into the military as much as possible, to include wearing a military uniform. In April 1918, Inez and the 2nd Unit embarked aboard the SS Carmania (an ocean liner converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser for WWI service, until combat damage forced a conversion to Troop Transport) to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

When the 2nd Unit arrived in France they received orders to set up a telephone exchange in Paris in support of American Expeditionary Force (AEF) operations. Sadly, Inez died of complications of influenza (the famous, but misnamed "Spanish Flu") on November 11, 1918 – on Armistice Day.

Inez married Nathaniel Brittian Crittenden in 1911; they divorced in 1917. She was living with her mother at the time of her appointment to the U.S. Telephone Corps. Inez Crittenden died in Paris, on Armistice Day in 1918, from pneumonia, a complication of influenza. She was 31 years old. Her grave is in the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial in Suresnes, France. She was given a military funeral, which was very unusual for a civilian telephone operator.

Crittenden's ex-husband was wounded in France during the war; his family told newspapers that the two planned to be reunited after the war. Emily Murphy denied these reports.
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• On November 10, 2021 Suresnes American Cemetery Superintendent Keith Stadler walked the first female U.S. Vice President, Kamala Harris, to the gravesites of Inez Ann Murphy Crittenden; both are San Francisco Bay Area natives. United States Vice Presidential Pool Reports, November 10, 2021 and Vice President Kamala Harris pays her respects to American fallen service members buried overseas
• The Hello Girls, America’s First Women Soldiers, Harvard University Press, 2017

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1900 US Census
Name: Inez A Murphey
Age: 12
Birth Date: September 1887
Birthplace: California
Home in 1900: Oakland Ward 2, Alameda, California
Ward of City: 2
Street: West Street
House Number: 1807
Sheet Number: 3
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation: 52
Family Number: 57
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Daughter
Marital status: Single
Father's name: James A Murphey
Father's Birthplace: California
Mother's name: Emlu A Murphey
Mother's Birthplace: Virginia
Occupation: At School
Attended School: 0
Can Read: Yes
Can Write: Yes
Can Speak English: Yes
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
James A Murphey 37
Emlu A Murphey 39
Blanche E Murphey 14
Inez A Murphey 12
Leo J Murphey 5

1910 US Census
Name: Inez G Murphy [Inez C Murphy]
Age in 1910: 22
Birth Year: abt 1888
Birthplace: California
Home in 1910: San Francisco Assembly District 37, San Francisco, California
Street: Page Street
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Daughter
Marital status: Single
Father's Birthplace: California
Mother's name: Emily A Murphy
Mother's Birthplace: California
Native Tongue: English
Occupation: Stenographer
Industry: Fruit Packing Co
Employer, Employee or Other: Wage Earner
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Out of Work: N
Number of weeks out of work: 0
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Emily A Murphy 49
Inez G Murphy 22
Joseph L Murphy 14

References

• https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:GCZ8-H7X