By Joanne Mendes, Archives Assistant
Title: Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Library of Management Research and Professional papers, 1845-1959
Predominant Dates:1906-1924
Primary Creator: Gilbreth, Frank Bunker (1868 -1924)
Other Creators: Gilbreth, Lillian Moller (1878-1972)
Extent: 100.0 Cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into four series:
1. N-file, ca. 1845-1941 (71.5 cubic feet)
2. N-file Oversized, ca. 1914-1919 (1 cubic foot)
3. N-file Photographs, ca. 1908-1941 (11.5 cubic feet)
4. N-file Blueprints, ca. 1906-1937 (8 cubic feet)
Date Acquired: 00/00/1939
Subjects: Armed Forces, Automobiles - design and construction, Bricklaying, Dentistry, Disabled veterans, Engineering, Epilepsy, Factory management, Gilbreth, Frank Bunker, 1868-1924, Gilbreth, Lillian Moller, 1878-1972, Home economics, Human engineering, Industrial arts - vocational guidance, Industrial engineering, Industrial management, Inventory control, Kitchens, Manufacturing, Military education, Motion Study, People with disabilities, Photography, Psychology, Purdue University--Baseball, Skill Study, Soap Manufacturing, Standardization, Time management, Typewriting, Women's Archives at Purdue University, Women - Employment, Women engineers
Forms of Material: Blueprints, Clippings (Information artifacts), Correspondence, Flow charts, Manuscripts (document genre), Pamphlets, Photographic prints, Scrapbooks
Languages: English
The Gilbreth Library of Management documents the pioneering research of Frank Gilbreth and Lillian Gilbreth in the fields of time and motion study. Commonly referred to as the N-file, the collection covers the Gilbreths quest to find The One Best Way in job performance, worker satisfaction, efficient office management, and home economics.
Company files in the collection include: New England Butt Company, Regal Shoe Company, Remington Typewriter Company, Sears & Roebuck, National Cash Register, Pierce Arrow, Eastman Kodak, Lever Brothers, and Cluett Peabody & Company. A small portion of the collection covers the Gilbreths family life and Frank's army career during World War I.
Frank Bunker Gilbreth was born July 7, 1868 to John and Martha (Bunker) Gilbreth of Fairfield, Maine. The youngest of three children, Frank enjoyed a quiet childhood until his father's sudden death from pneumonia in 1871. For financial reasons, his mother was forced to move Frank and his sisters, Anne and Mary, to Boston where Martha opened a boardinghouse. Martha successfully managed the boarding house and along with a small income from her sister Caroline's artwork, was able to support the family and put her two daughters through college. After passing the MIT entrance exams in the summer of 1885, Frank decided to forgo higher education and entered the construction trade as a bricklayer's assistant. Frank noted that the bricklayers with whom he trained all had different approaches to bricklaying and he soon devised a method which eliminated unnecessary motions and greatly increased productivity. Frank quickly worked his way up within the company and was soon able to support his mother and aunt. In 1895, he started his own contracting firm, Frank Gilbreth and Company. The company became famous for finishing projects early and under budget. In 1902, Frank's firm finished building a laboratory for MIT in eleven weeks, a feat which so impressed a young engineering student that he begged the president of the university to arrange a meeting. The student was Andrey Potter (who later became the dean of engineering at Purdue University) and he and Frank Gilbreth became lifelong friends.
The marriage of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth began one of the most famous partnerships in engineering history. Lillian immediately became a full partner in Frank's business, working with him first from home but soon joining him on job sites, at business meetings, and participating in industrial conferences. Frank relied on Lillian tremendously and affectionately referred to her as "Boss." They collaborated on papers, speeches, lectures, and co-authored four books. In 1907, Frank met Frederick Winslow Taylor, the developer of time study, and became a disciple of the Taylor System. The Gilbreths became deeply involved in scientific management research and Frank was instrumental in the creation of the Taylor Society. In 1912, the Gilbreths left construction and focused their attention on scientific management consulting. They broke with Taylor in 1914 and formed their own form of scientific management which focused on the human element as well as the technical. In 1915, Lillian received her doctorate in psychology and incorporated her training into the family business. She saw the need to improve worker satisfaction which would in turn improve overall job performance and worker efficiency. Frank designed his systems to ease worker fatigue and increase productivity by studying each movement a worker made in a process he called micromotion study. The Gilbreths used still photographs and film strips to study worker movement in order to devise the "One Best Way" to perform a task. The Gilbreths also saw the need to improve the physical comfort of the worker and their innovations in office furniture design were ahead of their time and led the way to the study of ergonomics.
The Gilbreths work in time management and efficiency carried over into their personal lives. Early on, Frank and Lillian agreed to have twelve children, six boys and six girls, a feat which they accomplished in seventeen years. The children Anne, Mary (died at the age of six from diphtheria), Ernestine, Martha, Frank Jr., Bill, Lillian, Fred, Dan, John, Bob, and Jane soon became willing participants in their parents studies. The older children were assigned younger siblings to care for and all had daily housekeeping tasks, including the toddlers, who were given table legs to dust. Often Frank would recruit the children for help with his research including his motion studies on typing and surgery. The Gilbreths success raising a large family in which both parents worked full time was a testimony to their achievements in management and efficiency and their love for one another. After Frank's sudden death from a heart attack in 1924, Lillian not only carried on with their work but also managed to put every child through college. Lillian retired in 1968 and died January 2, 1972.
Armed Forces
Automobiles - design and construction
Bricklaying
Dentistry
Disabled veterans
Engineering
Epilepsy
Factory management
Gilbreth, Frank Bunker, 1868-1924
Gilbreth, Lillian Moller, 1878-1972
Home economics
Human engineering
Industrial arts - vocational guidance
Industrial engineering
Industrial management
Inventory control
Kitchens
Manufacturing
Military education
Motion Study
People with disabilities
Photography
Psychology
Purdue University--Baseball
Skill Study
Soap Manufacturing
Standardization
Time management
Typewriting
Women's Archives at Purdue University
Women - Employment
Women engineers
Repository: Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections
Alternate Extent Statement: 183 boxes
Access Restrictions: Collection is open for research. However, there are a few boxes of restricted materials. Please see the full finding aid for details.
Use Restrictions: Copyright and literary rights are held by the Gilbreth family. Permission to publish materials from this collection must be obtained from the Gilbreth family.
Physical Access Note: 24 hours notice is required to access the collection.
Acquisition Source: Dr. Lillian M. Gilbreth
Acquisition Method: Dr. Lillian Gilbreth donated the collection to Purdue University in 1939. The collection was shipped to the university in 1940 and was sorted and processed on site by Dr. Gilbreth. A small portion of the collection including the personal books of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth is housed at Purdue's Industrial Engineering Department located in Grissom Hall.
Separated Materials: Blueprints, oversized materials, and photographs were seperated from the collection and placed in their own series for preservation purposes.
Original/Copies Note: For more information please see http://e-archives.lib.purdue.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/gilbreth.
Related Materials:
Frank B. and Lillian M. Gilbreth Library of Management Videos
MSP 7, Frank and Lillian <span class="highlight0 bold">Gilbreth</span> papers, Archives and Special Collections, Purdue University Libraries
The Gilbreth Book Library located with Purdue University's School of Industrial Engeering
A. A. Potter Papers
UA 2.06, Edward C. Elliott Papers
Preferred Citation: MSP 8, Gilbreth Library of Management papers, Archives and Special Collections, Purdue University Libraries
Processing Information: The collection was shipped to the university in 1940 and was originally sorted and processed on site by Dr. Gilbreth. In 2006, archive staff created an updated finding aid and took steps to preserve the collection. All materials have been housed in acid-free, lignin-free folders and boxes. All newsprint has been photocopied.
Finding Aid Revision History: Revised locations 2/26/2010
Other Note: The original order of the materials as established by the Gilbreths has been retained. The N-file is arranged in a mnemonic filing system, a control index is located in the addendum.
Other URL: http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/fa/pdf/gilbrethLOM.pdf
