On September 1, 1878, a woman in her prime took up a job that completely changed her life and left a mark in the books of history. It’s going to be 142 years this year since Emma M. Nutt became a pioneer of reform for women in the telephone industry. Thanks to Emma Nutt, the whole idea of a phone operator changed, and today we are still benefitting from the revolution she led.
In this article I share with you 20 amazing facts about Emma Nutt and this day in history.
1. Emma Nutt Day is Globally Known
Emma M. Nutt’s name made history the day she began working as a telephone operator at the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company. Until recent decades, there was always someone willing to help you connect your calls and it was usually a woman. Bots have now overtaken the system, but some companies still believe in live human interaction and have outsourced the task to massive call centers on the Indian subcontinent.
2. World War II Started on the 61st Celebration of Emma Nutt Day
September 1st has a lot of significance in history as it was the day the Second World War began in 1939. Interestingly, the war was first reported in the media by the English journalist, Clare Hollingworth. This day seems to have something about great women in history!
3. A Super Famous Operator Was Born on the Same Day
Lily Tomlin is an American actress and comedian. She was dubbed as the most famous operator of all time after playing the role of Ernestine the Telephone Operator in the 1968 comedy series Laugh-In. The comedienne was born on September 1, 1939. You may choose to call it fate or just coincidence, but what we know for sure is that this date, this job, and these women have a special connection.
4. The Inventor of the Telephone Hired Emma
Back then so many people had troubles completing a phone call. A musician, Jim Croce, made the hit song “Operator” about the hazards of trying to place a phone call. Emma was hired by Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, because he could no longer keep up with the rebellious attitudes of the boys he had hired earlier.
5. Nutt Was a Superwoman Without the Cape
As an operator, Nutt did so well at her job regardless of the challenges that came with it: she punched the right keys and plugged the appropriate cables into the switchboard. Callers loved her for her patience and soothing voice. Emma Nutt became a model every telephone company sought to hire and, in about two years, that made the job favored mostly by women.
6. What It Took to Be a Female Telephone Operator
The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities noted that to get the telephone operator job as a woman, you had to pass the height, weight, and arm length tests, so you can fit into the tight quarters provided to switchboard operators. The operators, back then, sat for long hours and were not allowed to chat or talk to each other. All the company wanted was a quick and efficient response — even to the needs of the crankiest customer.
7. She Never Resigned
Even though many women embraced the employment opportunity pioneered by Nutt, it wasn’t an easy one in the long run. But guess who never left her job despite having to sit in straight-backed chairs for long hours. Emma Nutt might have gotten weary at some point, but she never left her career out of frustration.
8. Emma Nutt Is a Woman of Many Firsts
Being the first woman ever to hold the job as a telephone operator also makes Emma Nutt the first female operator in her family. As obvious as this may seem, her name will never be erased from her family history. But Nutt went beyond being the first woman who made fame from taking phone calls; she paved the way for so many in the industry. She was indeed a trailblazer!
9. The Legend Worked Alongside Her Sister
Not long after Emma took up her new job, her sister, Stella Nutt, joined in. She became the second female telephone operator in the world, making the duo the first two sister telephone operators in history. Stella, however, left her sister in the job a few years later.
10. Emma Loved Her Job
Graham Bell hired Emma to fix one of the company’s problems. The telephone operator job used to be predominated by young teenage boys who didn’t handle it well. But Emma distinguished herself in this male dominated environment and worked alongside these young men 54 hours a week. This she did for 33 years (or 37 years according to some reports) for a salary of $10 a month.
11. She Loved Her Name Too
Social scientists hold the belief that a person’s name influences their personality, how they’re perceived and even their physical appearance. Nutt once said that she was grateful that her name was “Emma,” and not “Imma.” For whatever reasons she said that, she lived up to her name.
12. An Amazing Device Has Her Name
There is something more to Emma’s name. In commemoration for her excellent service years in the telephone company, a synthesized speech attendant system created by Preferred Voice and Philips Electronics was named “EMMA.”
13. Emma Was an Astonishing Beauty
Considering her attractive features, the teenage Emma Nutt would have made it big in the movie industry too. But, instead, she took over a job which was supposed to be a man’s job back then. She sat behind a machine and made it possible for thousands of people to communicate over long distances.
14. She Had A Great Memory
As the use of telephones increased, the customer base of the dispatch company grew by the day, and Emma kept her mind in the game. The icon claimed she knew all the numbers in the New England Telephone Company directory! That’s something when you think that so many people these days don’t even know their mobile phone numbers by heart…
15. No One Knows for Sure Her Birth Date
Although Emma Nutt made history and became famous, not much is known about her private life. Till date, no biography has her exact date of birth. Most documentation suggests she died at the age of 54 or 55.
16. Emma Nutt Never Married
Reports have it that married women were not allowed to be telephone operators. Also African-American and Jewish women were shunned away due to the prevalent racial discrimination of that time. Emma chose to work long hours as an operator rather than getting married, unlike her sister who left the job when she got married.
17. She Lived With Her Family
As much as we’d like to know more about the life of this great pioneer’s family, we don’t have that many details. However, we know that Nutt lived in Chelsea, Massachusetts, together with her parents, her sister Stella, Stella’s husband, and their son, Arthur C. Evart. While Nutt worked as an operator, Stella’s husband – William G. Evart – worked as a clerk to support the rest of the family.
18. Nutt Died Shortly After Her Retirement
After over 30 years of operating the manual switchboards, Nutt decided to retire. She had her retirement sometime between 1911 and 1915, just around the year of her death. We can only hope that she died knowing of her role in the history of the world.
19. More Events Followed Her Retirement
Around the time Emma retired, the Boston Telephone Dispatch Company consolidated with other small companies into the New England Telephone & Telegraph Company. The company soon became National Bell Telephone Company after it merged with the Bell Telephone Company on February 17, 1879. The Boston Telephone Dispatch Company evolved over time in what today we know as AT&T.
20. The Best Way to Celebrate Emma Nutt Day
There are many ways to celebrate Emma Nutt Day. You could either share her story or be kind to the phone operator you talk to next. For me, the best way to celebrate Emma Nutt Day is to keep on researching her amazing life story and share it with the world in the hope that it will inspire young women out there to follow their dreams and do the jobs they love.
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References: Time, Emma Nutt Day Wikipedia, New England Historical Society, Funding Universe
