Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Web Site
The Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Library of Management: The N-File
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Biography
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth are world renowned for their pioneering work in the fields of time and motion study, fatigue study, work simplification, scientific management, and ergonomics. Frank Bunker Gilbreth, a contractor from Boston, met Lillian Evelyn Moller as she was about to embark on a tour of Europe after graduating from the University of California with a master’s degree in literature. Frank, a confirmed bachelor, quickly became infatuated with Lillian and was waiting at the dock when her ship returned from Europe. Six months after their first meeting, Frank proposed. After their marriage in 1904, 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 and became an admirer of the Taylor System of time study. The Gilbreths became deeply involved in scientific research and Frank was instrumental in creating 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 and Frank saw the need to improve worker satisfaction, which would in turn improve overall job performance and worker efficiency. Frank designed 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 movements in order to devise the “ One Best Way” to perform a task. They also saw the need to improve the physical comfort of the worker, and their innovations in office furniture design were ahead of their time, leading the way to the study of ergonomics.
About the Gilbreth Collection
The Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Library of Management documents the professional careers of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. Commonly referred to as the N-file, this collection covers the Gilbreths’ quest to find the “ One Best Way” in job performance, worker satisfaction, efficient office management, and home economics. The N-file consists of research materials, reports, graphs, photographs, notes, manuscripts, blueprints, and other materials related to the Gilbreths’ work. The N-file is arranged in a mnemonic filing system created by Frank Gilbreth. This collection was donated to Purdue by Lillian Gilbreth in 1939.
To view a detailed inventory of the N-file, see the Finding Aid to the Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Library of Management.
To view a detailed inventory of the personal papers, see the Inventory of the Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Papers.
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A second Gilbreth collection was received in 1972 from the Gilbreths’ children following Lillian’s death. This collection documents Lillian’s career after Frank’s death in 1924, and includes information on the Gilbreths’ family life. A finding aid for this collection is currently under development.
