Real Dozen

The Real Cheaper By The Dozen:

Frank Bunker Gilbreth (July 7, 1868 – June 14, 1924) was an American engineer, early advocate of scientific management and a pioneer of time and motion studies. Lillian Evelyn Moller Gilbreth (May 24, 1878 – January 2, 1972) was one of the first working female engineers holding a Ph.D. A pioneer in ergonomics, she patented many kitchen appliances that made work in the kitchen easier. The Gilbreths are considered the founders of modern industrial management, who sought to improve workers’ productivity while making their work easier. They were, above all, scientists who sought to teach managers that all aspects of the workplace should be constantly questioned, and improvements constantly adopted. In this way, their work advanced appreciation for the importance of the addressing the needs of workers, and through taking care of those individuals the whole purpose would be better served.

Their Family:

As planned, the Gilbreths became the parents of a large family (all naturally born) that included thirteen children. (One died young in 1912; one was still-born in 1915; and eleven of them lived to adulthood, all of whom married and provided Lillian with a total of 29 grandchildren.)  Their children were:

1.)    Anne M. Gilbreth (September 9, 1905 – February 16, 1987) (age 81); married Robert E. Barney; three children (Peter, Frank, and Robert).
2.)    Mary Elizabeth Gilbreth (December 13, 1906 – January 31, 1912) (age 5); died of diphtheria.
3.)    Ernestine Gilbreth (April 5, 1908 – November 4, 2006) (age 98); married Charles E. Carey; two children (Charles E. Carey, Lillian Barley).
4.)    Martha B. Gilbreth (November 5, 1909 – November 15, 1968) (age 59); married Richard E. Tallman; four children (Janet, Blair, Mary, and Stephanie).
5.)    Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. (March 17, 1911 – February 18, 2001) (age 89); married 1): Elizabeth Cauthen (1934–1954) (her death) 2): Mary Pringle Manigault (1955–2001) (his death); three children (one from first marriage: Betsy; two from second marriage: Rebecca, Dr. Edward Gilbreth).
6.)    William Gilbreth (December 18, 1912 – April 14, 1990) (age 77); married Jean Irvin; two children (Lillian and Bill).
7.)    Lillian M. Gilbreth Jr. (June 17, 1914 – June 23, 2001) (age 87); married Donald Dodge Johnson; two children (Julia and Dodge).
8.)    Infant Girl Gilbreth (September 13, 1915 – September 13, 1915) (still-born).
9.)    Frederick M. Gilbreth (August 17, 1916 – November 30, 2015) (age 99); married Jessie Blair Tallman; three children (Susan Kaseler, Frank, and John).
10.) Daniel Bunker Gilbreth (September 17, 1917 – June 13, 2006) (age 88); married Irene Jensen; three children (David Gilbreth, Danny Gilbreth, and Peggy).
11.) John M. Gilbreth (May 29, 1919 – December 25, 2002) (age 83); married Dorothy Girvan; three children (Peter, James, and Deborah).
12.) Robert Moller Gilbreth (July 4, 1920 – July 24, 2007) (age 87); married Barbara Filer; two children (Ann Gilbreth Wilson, Roy D. Gilbreth).
13.) Jane Moller Gilbreth (June 22, 1922 – January 10, 2006) (age 83); married George Paul Heppes; two children (Laurie and Paula).

The Gilbreths applied their management techniques in running their large household. They created a Family Council, with a purchasing committee, a budget secretary, and a utility committee. Two of their children later wrote humorous accounts of their family life, Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes. Under Lillian’s persuasion, Frank Gilbreth changed his career from construction to management. In 1908, Frank published his first book, Field System. After their marriage, Lillian Gilbreth had to handle several major responsibilities—her studies, her family, and their family business. She worked as a systems manager in her husband's consulting business and had helped her husband in his projects. In 1910, the Gilbreths moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and Lillian Gilbreth decided to enter Brown University to complete her doctoral studies in psychology. She earned her Ph.D. in 1915, her dissertation entitled, The Psychology of Management. It was the first degree granted in industrial psychology.

Their Work:

The Gilbreths started to apply their expertise—Lillian in psychology, and Frank in the expedience of motion—to find the link between psychology and management. The couple wrote numerous books and articles. In 1913, the Gilbreths started the Summer School of Scientific Management, where they taught their method. The school was attended by academic and industry professionals from around the world. In 1914, Frank Gilbreth went to Germany to visit industrial plants and establish new laboratories. He also spent time in teaching and consulting. At the beginning of World War I, as the wounded soldiers started to arrive in the hospitals, Gilbreth helped improve surgical procedures and introduced motion-picture photography for the education of surgeons. He eventually became an expert in rehabilitation of the injured. When the United States entered the war, Gilbreth enlisted and joined the Engineers Officers Reserve Corps. However, he developed heart problems and his family moved to Nantucket, Massachusetts, to facilitate his recovery. On Gilbreth’s proposal, the first international management congress in history was held in Prague, in 1924. Frank Gilbreth died suddenly of heart failure on June 14, 1924, at age 55, in Montclair, New Jersey.

After her husband’s death, Lillian Gilbreth moved her family to California, and continued their family business. Numerous famous firms, such as Macy’s, Johnson & Johnson, Sears, and Dennison Co. hired her consulting company to train their employees. She also started a new school called Gilbreth Research Associates but closed it several years later. She received 22 honorary degrees from schools such as Princeton University, Brown University, and the University of Michigan. She served as visiting professor at Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1935, she joined the Purdue University faculty as a professor of management, becoming the first woman professor in the engineering school.  During World War II, she worked as a consultant at the Arma Plant in Brooklyn, New York, which handled Navy contracts. In 1948, she started teaching at the Newark College of Engineering in New Jersey. She also taught in Formosa from 1953 to 1954, and at the University of Wisconsin in 1955. She received the Hoover Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1966, and was awarded the Gantt Gold Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Management Association. She was a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. Lillian Gilbreth died in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 2, 1972.

Books and Movies:

The books: Cheaper by the Dozen (published in 1948) and Belles on Their Toes (published in 1950), written by two of their children (Ernestine and Frank Jr.) tell the story of their family life and describe how time-and-motion studies were applied to the organization and daily activities of their large family.  Both books were later made into feature films: “Cheaper By The Dozen” (released in 1950 and starring: Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy), “Belles On Their Toes” (released in 1952 and starring: Myrna Loy), “Cheaper By The Dozen” (released in 2003 and starring: Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Tom Welling and Hilary Duff) and “Cheaper By The Dozen 2” (released in 2005 and starring: Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Tom Welling, Hillary Duff and Eugene Levy.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Moller_Gilbreth
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Frank_and_Lillian_Gilbreth