Lillian Gilbreth: Redefining Domesticity by Julie Des Jardins

Lillian Gilbreth: Redefining Domesticity Reviews

• 
  Miriam Holsinger

  If you want to feel like a slacker, read about Lillian Gilbreth. I've long loved the story of the Gilbreths from reading Cheaper by the Dozen and Bells on their Toes but I didn't realize how much those stories underplayed the role of their mom, Lillian Moller Gilbreth. Written in the 1950's when popular society was telling women to leave the work place and find happiness in the home and family, those books did a bit of fictionalizing to fit in with the culture of the day. I became more interest in learning about Dr Lillian Gilbreth after listening to a podcast by the History Chicks about her and am so glad I did.
  
  This book put her amazing accomplishments in perspective - I had forgotten that much of the early work Dr Gilbreth and her husband did was in the early 20th century - decades before the 1929 stock market crash. That she did the work for a doctoral thesis twice at a time when most women didn't even go to college is incredible but what she did with her knowledge and skills is even more incredible. The modern life as we know it would not be here without this woman. Not only did she humanize the efficiency industry, she also redesigned the home and office - the broom closet, the desk, the kitchen "triange" (fridge, sink, and stove), and the fact that we have shelves on the doors of the fridge are all due to Dr Gilbreth's brilliance and influence.
  
  I don't know if this is best biography of her but it was a delightful read.
• 
  Jackie

  Another great book from the Carol Berkin authors.