Crippen was born in Philadelphia to an African-American family. She performed at Edmond's Cellar in New York City about 1920.^[1] In 1921, she recorded four sides for Black Swan Records in the classic female blues style under her name and one under the pseudonym of Ella White, accompanied by Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra.^[2][3] She toured in 1922–23 as the star of a revue, "Liza and Her Shuffling Sextet", which included Fats Waller.^[1][4] She subsequently formed a revue, "Katie Crippen and Her Kids", in which she was accompanied by a teenaged Count Basie.^[5][6] She was managed by her husband and musician Lou Henry.^[7]

In the later 1920s she appeared in revues at the Lafayette Theater in New York City and toured the RKO theater circuit with Dewey Brown as Crippen & Brown.^[1]

After a long illness, Crippen died of cancer in New York City on November 25, 1929. She is buried in Merion Memorial Park, in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia.^[1]

Crippen's complete recordings have been reissued in CD format by Document Records on Fletcher Henderson and the Blues Singers: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order Volume 1 (1921–1923) (DODC-5342).

• Harris, Sheldon (1994). Blues Who's Who (Rev. ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80155-8.
• Magee, Jeffrey (2005). The Uncrowned King of Swing: Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509022-5.
• Shipton, Alyn (1988). Fats Waller: His Life and Times. Universe Books. ISBN 0-87663-687-3.
• Allen, Walter C. (1973). Henderson – The Music of Fletcher Henderson and His Musicians. Walter C. Allen. ISSN 0075-3564 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 72-85818.
• Murray, Albert (1985). Good Morning Blues. The Autobiography of Count Basie as told to Alter Murray. Primus, Donald I. Fine ISBN 0-917657-89-6.

• Katie Crippen at AllMusic