Inez Ann Murphy Crittenden (1887 – November 11, 1918) was a leader of the " Hello Girls", the U. S. Telephone Corps in France during World War I.
Inez Ann Murphy was born in California, the daughter of T. P. Murphy and Emily Murphy. [1] She was originally from San Francisco. [2]
Inez Crittenden worked as a telephone operator in California at age fourteen. She later worked as a secretary to the president of the California Packing Corporation in San Francisco. [3] She was one of the first women to join the United States Signal Corps, where her fluent French skills were in demand during World War I. [4] In January 1918, she became Chief Operator, Second American Unit of Telephone Operators, in charge of hundreds of American women who worked as interpreters in war-related telephone communications. [5] She and her unit sailed for France in March 1918. [6] "We were among the first girls to go across, and arrangements were very sketchy in those days," recalled a member of her unit. [7] Crittenden was soon transferred to work for the public relations bureau at the American Embassy in Paris. [8]
Inez Murphy married Nathaniel P. Crittenden of the Crittenden family of Oakland in 1911; they divorced in 1917. [9] [10] She was living with her mother at the time of her appointment to the U. S. Telephone Corps. [8] Inez Crittenden died in Paris, on Armistice Day in 1918, from pneumonia, a complication of influenza. She was 31 years old. Her grave [11] is in the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial in Suresnes, France. [12] She was given a military funeral, which was unusual for a civilian telephone operator. [8]
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. [13]