Katharine Gibbs: Beyond White Gloves - Paperback

by Rose a. Doherty (Author)

How does a 46-year-old widow with no income, two sons to support, and only a high school education survive? If you are Katharine Gibbs, you found a secretarial school in 1911 that becomes the best in the world and gives women the ability to support themselves. Katharine Gibbs was CEO of three schools two years before women could vote. She was an entrepreneur who educated women for business when they were not welcome. She created her school in hostile times when a Harvard Medical School doctor said that higher education could cause the uterus to atrophy! After her death, the family fostered the icon of Gibbs excellence worldwide and added Chicago, Bermuda, and suburban New Jersey campuses. Gordon Gibbs, son of the founder, said, "This is not my school or my family's; it's a national institution." The national institution underwent many changes in its one hundred years. The last owners were large corporations who kept the core tradition of excellence. Multiple campuses, new programs of study, the introduction of degrees, and male students remade Gibbs with adaptability reminiscent of the founder. The Gibbs family motto Tenax proposit, Hold to your purpose, motivated graduates from 1911 to 2011. The stories of Gibbs graduates-bank president, college president, US ambassador, CIA operatives, lawyers, writers, graphic designers, professionals in many fields-are told in each chapter.

Author Biography

Rose Doherty's life with Gibbs began in the sixth grade when she handed out matches and bridge cards at an alumnae event in Providence, Rhode Island. She was later a faculty member and academic dean at Katharine Gibbs School in Boston and chair of the Gibbs College, Boston board of trustees. The author nominated Katharine Ryan Gibbs as a woman of character, courage, and commitment to The National Women's History Project. Katharine Gibbs was chosen as one of the 2014 National Women's History Month honorees. In addition to her Gibbs teaching, Rose Doherty has taught writing and literature at Boston College, Boston Conservatory of Music, and Framingham State University. She was Assistant Dean and Director of Liberal Arts and Criminal Justice programs at Northeastern University's University College. She lives in Massachusetts and is an elected member of the board of trustees of Needham Free Public Library. She is also an officer in The Partnership of the Historic Bostons, Inc., a history nonprofit organization.