Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jul 1995

Frank Aydelotte: AT&T's First Writing Consultant, 1917–1918

Michael G. Moran

Abstract

In 1917 Frank Aydelotte, an English professor at MIT, became AT&T's first outside writing consultant. Because many of its older, better-educated male employees had been mobilized to fight World War I, the company found itself with numerous young, poorly-educated employees. Drawing on the humanistic approach to writing instruction that he had developed at MIT in his book English and Engineering, Aydelotte created a year-long program at AT&T that taught employees to think and write about issues important to their work. The course is important for two reasons: first, it offers insight into the kinds of early consulting work that English professors did, and, second, it shows that Aydelotte's humanistic approach to technical communication worked as well in business as it did in academic settings.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1995-07-01
DOI
10.2190/k5ug-n9p7-3ktf-qlu5
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
writing pedagogy technical communication
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Moran et al. (2012)
    A Bibliography of Works Published in the History of Professional Communication …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Malone (2007)
    Historical Studies of Technical Communication in the United States and England:…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  3. Todd (2003)
    Teaching the History of Technical Communication: A Lesson with Franklin and Hoover
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

References (34) · 3 in this index

  1. Moran M. G. (1991)
    Notes on Teaching English
  2. Moran (1993)
    The road not taken: Frank Aydelotte and the thought approach to engineering writing
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Aydelotte F. (1923)
    English and Engineering
  4. AT&T, Educational Work, unpublished company flier.
  5. Aydelotte F., unpublished letter to R. C. Maclaurin, August 20, 1917.
Show all 34 →
  1. AT&T, unpublished list of applicants.
  2. Vinal A. C., unpublished letter to Frank Aydelotte, August 7, 1917.
  3. Vinal A. C., unpublished letter to John F. Oderman, August 16, 1917.
  4. Aydelotte F., unpublished letter to N. C. Kingsbury, October 30, 1917.
  5. Kingsbury N. C., unpublished letter to Frank Aydelotte, November 2, 1917.
  6. Aydelotte F., unpublished letter to N. C. Kingsbury, November 10, 1917.
  7. Vinal A. C., unpublished letter to Frank Aydelotte, November 12, 1917.
  8. Vinal A. C., unpublished letter to Frank Aydelotte, November 17, 1917.
  9. Vinal A. C., unpublished letters to elementary groups A and B, November 10, 1917.
  10. Aydelotte F., Address, unpublished typescript, October 11, 1917.
  11. Aydelotte F., Address by Professor Aydelotte to Advanced English Class January 3, 1918, unpublished typescript.
  12. Aydelotte F., Address by Professor Aydelotte to Advanced English Class January 24, 1918, unpublished typescript.
  13. Aydelotte F., unpublished list of writing assignments.
  14. Aydelotte F., Address, October 11, 1917, unpublished typescript.
  15. Vinal A. C., unpublished letter to Frank Aydelotte, April 19, 1918.
  16. Cook H., unpublished letter to Frank Aydelotte, April 18, 1918.
  17. Vinal A. C., unpublished letter to Frank Aydelotte, April 12, 1918.
  18. Fisher H. E., unpublished letter to Frank Aydelotte, April 11, 1918.
  19. Waeff E. A., unpublished letter to Frank Aydelotte, May 23, 1918.
  20. Thompson J. V., unpublished letter to Frank Aydelotte, May 1, 1918.
  21. Blanshard F. (1970)
    Frank Aydelotte of Swarthmore
  22. Aydelotte F., unpublished letter to Henry C. Fisher, October 22, 1937.
  23. Moran M. G. (1993)
    Technical Writing Quarterly
  24. Moran (1990)
    John White: Renaissance England's First Important Ethnographic Illustrator
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  25. Moran M. G. (1986)
    Technical Communication
  26. Moran M. G. (1985)
    Research in Technical Communication
  27. Moran M. G. (1984)
    The Technical Writing Teacher
  28. 10.1177/108056998404700211
     ↗
  29. Moran (1984)
    Joseph Priestley, William Duncan and Analytic Arrangement in 18th-Century Scien…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
CrossRef global citation count: 4 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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