Guide to the Katharine Gibbs School records, 1900-2009

(bulk 1970-2009)

John Hay Library , University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2022

Collection Overview

Title:	Katharine Gibbs School records
Date range:	1900-2009, (1970-2009)
Creator:	Career Education Corporation
Extent:	16 Linear Feet 15 records center boxes, 1 triple oversize box, 1 artifact on shelf, 1 map folder
Abstract:	NOTE: The John Hay Library does not maintain student records for the Katharine Gibbs School. Individuals looking for student records and transcripts should contact: Perdoceo Education Corporation, 231 Martingale Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173; Phone: (847) 781-3600; Website: https://www.perdoceoed.com/About-Perdoceo-Education/Contact-Us. This collection contains records, artifacts and documentation about this school founded in 1911 by Katharine Gibbs with the mission to train young women as professional secretaries.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	Ms.2011.019

Scope & content

NOTE: The John Hay Library does not maintain student records for the Katharine Gibbs School. Individuals looking for student records and transcripts should contact: Perdoceo Education Corporation, 231 Martingale Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173; Phone: (847) 781-3600; Website: https://www.perdoceoed.com/About-Perdoceo-Education/Contact-Us

This collection contains records and artifacts related to the Katharine Gibbs School dating from 1929-2009. The branches of the school represented in the collection are primarily Providence, RI; Boston, MA; Montclair, NJ; Livingston, NJ; New York, NY; and Norwalk, CT. The collection includes 32 artifacts, yearbooks, publications, photographs, 2 VHS video recordings, correspondence and newspaper clippings.

Series 1. Administrative and Historical Documents: These are arranged alphabetically and come from most of the branches of the school. They date from 1934-2003 but the bulk were created between 1973-2003. They provide insight into the management of the school, the curriculum, and placement services for graduates during the time period when the schools were changing rapidly in response to changes in technology and the business world.

Series 2. Publications: These are arranged in groupings according to the type of publication and then chronologically.

Series 3. Audiovisual: The majority of this series consists of photographs documenting the Montclair, NJ branch. It also contains images of students on trips to Bermuda and in class. The Typewriting Rhythm Records are examples of the resources used by the school for their students. Of note here are also 2 video tapes documenting the history of the school.

Series 4. Artifacts: The artifacts include portraits of Katharine Gibbs, a silver tea set, glass punch bowl, typewriter, awards, and ephemera.

Series 5. Library records: When the Katharine Gibbs School closed, the staff disbursed the books that were in the library to other educational institutions around the country. This box contains lists of the books, the check-out cards from the books, and correspondence with the institutions that took them.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Gibbs, Katharine
• Gibbs, Katharine (Portraits)

Subject Organizations

• Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive
• Katharine Gibbs Schools
• Career Education Corporation

Subject Topics

• School yearbooks
• Secretaries -- Training of
• Typewriting

Document Types

• Punch bowls
• Tea services
• Portraits

Arrangement

This collection is organized into five series:

• Series 1: Administrative and historical documents
• Series 2: Publications
• Series 3: Audiovisual
• Series 4: Artifacts
• Series 5: Library records

Katharine Gibbs was born Katharine Ryan in Galena, IL in 1863. She was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattanville, NY and graduated as a member of the first class in 1882. She married William Gibbs in 1896. They settled in Cranston, RI and had two sons: William Howard Gibbs in 1898 and James Gordon Gibbs in 1900. Katharine was widowed in 1909 at the age of 46 when her husband (Vice-Commodore of the Edgewood Yacht Club) fell from the mast of his boat. She had to support her 2 young sons and her unmarried sister, Mary Ryan.

Katharine Gibbs borrowed $1000 from friends who were Brown University faculty members and bought the Providence School for Secretaries in 1911. Her goal was to educate young women to be secretaries rather than stenographers. Ironically, the first student was a man, Marshall H. Sheldon. The school was first located at 155 Angell Street in Providence, RI later known as Churchill House and the home of the Africana Studies Department at Brown University.

The school was boosted by World War I when more women were needed in the business world as the men went off to fight in Europe. The American Red Cross invited Katharine to manage the secretarial training school in Boston in 1917. That same year, Katharine opened the Boston School for Secretaries with "a wartime call for college women with business education." The following year she opened the New York School for Secretaries on Park Avenue at 40th Street. In 1920 the name was changed to the Katharine Gibbs Schools of Secretarial and Executive Training for Women and in 1928 the school was incorporated.

Katharine Gibbs died at the age of 71 in 1934. James Gordon Gibbs succeeded his mother as President and expanded the schools to Chicago, IL (1943) and Montclair, NJ (1950). The Chicago School closed in 1954 but the New York school expanded and moved into the brand new Pan Am Building (later MetLife Building) on Park Avenue. James Gordon sold the schools to Macmillan, Inc. in 1968 and retired when neither of his 2 daughters showed an interest in business. His wife, Blanche Gibbs (former Executive Secretary to Katharine Gibbs), then became President until 1970.

Starting in 1970, the school expanded by adding an additional 7 locations: Long Island, NY (1971); Norwalk, CT (1973); Philadelphia, PA (1977); Rockville, MD (1983); Valley Forge, PA (1983); Tysons Corner, VA (1984); Piscataway, NJ (1984).

It also expanded the courses offered to include: Word Processing Program (1980), Travel and Conference Planning Program (1986), Legal Assistant Program (1986), Administrative Assistant Program (1986), Hotel and Restaurant Management Program (1987), Microcomputing / Accounting Associate Degree Program (1988), Graphic Design (circa 1999), Criminal Justice, Computer Technology, Health Care Administration, Business Administration, Fashion Design and Merchandise Degree program (2001).

The Montclair, NJ branch of the school was authorized as a college in 1999 by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education. It changed its name to Gibbs College.

Macmillan, Inc. sold the Katharine Gibbs Schools to Phillips Colleges, Inc. in 1989. It was then bought by K-III Communications Corporation in 1994. The final owner was Career Education Corporation which purchased it in 1997. All branches of the school closed in 2011.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Brown University Library. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Katharine Gibbs School records, Ms.2011.019, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library , University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of the Career Education Corporation in 2011. NOTE: STUDENT TRANSCRIPTS for alumni of Katharine Gibbs School available from this website: https://www.careered.com/closedschool. Student transcripts are owned by: Perdoceo Education Corporation, 231 Martingale Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173; Phone: (847) 781-3600; Website: https://www.perdoceoed.com/About-Perdoceo-Education/Contact-Us. Email address: inquiries@perdoceoed.com. Brown University does not have student transcripts for the Katharine Gibbs School.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Karen Eberhart.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-05-23 .
Descriptive rules:	Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Additional Information

Inventory

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