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Emma Nutt (July 1860 – 1915) became the world's first female telephone operator on September 1, 1878, when she started working for the Edwin Holmes Telephone Despatch Company (or the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company) in
"EMMA", a synthesized speech attendant system created by Preferred Voice and Philips Electronics is named in her honor.
1 September is unofficially commemorated as ''Emma M. Nutt Day''.
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, U.S.
Life and career
In January 1878, the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company had started hiring boys as telephone operators, starting with George Willard Croy. Boys (reportedly including Nutt's husband) had been very successful astelegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
operators, but their attitude (lack of patience) and behavior (pranks and cursing) were unacceptable for live phone contact, so the company began hiring women operators instead. Thus, on September 1, 1878, Nutt was hired, starting a career that lasted between 33 and 37 years, ending with her retirement sometime between 1911 and 1915. A few hours after Nutt started working, her sister Stella became the world's second female telephone operator, also making the pair the first two sister telephone operators in history. Unlike her sister, Stella only remained on the job for a few years.
The customer response to her soothing, cultured voice and patience was overwhelmingly positive, so boys were soon replaced by women. In 1879 these included Bessie Snow Balance, Emma Landon, Carrie Boldt, and Minnie Schumann, the first female operators in Michigan.
Nutt was hired by Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...
, who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone; apparently she changed jobs from a local telegraph office. She was paid a salary of $10 per month for a 54-hour week (about $1.50 / hour in 2024 dollars). Reportedly, she could remember every number in the telephone directory of the New England Telephone Company.
Commemoration
"EMMA", a synthesized speech attendant system created by Preferred Voice and Philips Electronics is named in her honor.
1 September is unofficially commemorated as ''Emma M. Nutt Day''.
See also
*Telephone switchboard
A telephone switchboard is a device used to connect circuits of telephones to establish telephone calls between users or other switchboards. The switchboard is an essential component of a manual telephone exchange, and is operated by switchboard ...
*Directory assistance
In telecommunications, directory assistance or directory inquiries is a phone service used to find out a specific telephone number and/or address of a residence, business, or government entity.
Technology
Directory assistance systems incorporate ...
* International operator services
* Long-distance operator
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nutt, Emma 1860 births 1915 deaths People from Boston Hello Girls Switchboard operators