Teachers and Practitioners of
Technical Communication, 1940-1975 (Oral History Project)
Most of these men and women were
involved in the profession-building activities of the 1950s, including the
formation of the first professional associations for technical writers,
editors, and illustrators. The interviews were conducted in person (e.g., Shnitzler, Kinn), by telephone
(e.g., Dahle, Marx, Holmes), and/or by email
correspondence (e.g., McElwee, Higgins, Kennedy).
a. Interviews that I conducted
from 2006 to 2023
Waldo T. Boyd (1918-2012), technical
writer for Philco, Solar Aircraft Company, and
Aerojet-General in the 1940s and 1950s
Martha Chambliss (1926-2023), technical editor
at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in the 1950s and General Dynamics in the
1960s
Joseph D. Chapline
(1920-2011), technical writer for Eckert-Mauchly and Philco
in the 1940s and 1950s and chairman of IRE PGEWS (1958-1959)
Walter B. Dennen,
Jr. (1927-2019), editor of TWE Journal (1956) and chairman of IEEE PGEWS
(1964-1965)
Dolly Dahle
(1925-2012), owner of Technical Publishing Services in Los Angeles (1955-1970s)
and member of the Technical Publishing Society
Phyllis Flanders Dorsett
(1924-2015), technical writer/editor at Sandia in the 1950s and author of a
1955 article in Technical Writing Review
Hanna Friedenstein
(c. 1918-2018), first woman president of the ACS Division of Chemical
Literature (1959)
Thomas A. Grogan (1922-2012),
president of STWE (1959-1960) at the time of its merger with TPS to form STWP
A. Stanley Higgins (1922-1913),
editor of STC's journal (1961-1976), president of STC (1979-1980), and STC
fellow
Roger Holmes, founding editor of Industrial
Editor and editor/publisher of the Technical Publishing Society's magazine Technical
Communications
Paul S. Kennedy (1924-2019),
treasurer of TWE/STWE (1956-1959) and STC fellow
John M. Kinn
(1925-2013), first editor of the Transactions of PGEWS (1958) and chairman of
PGEWS (1960-1962)
Patrick Lahey, program chair of the
first conference of IRE PGEWS (1957)
Gunther Marx, president of STWP
(1969-1970) and STC fellow
Eleanor M. McElwee (1924-2008),
prime mover c. 1957 in effort to form IRE PGEWS (now PCS)
Mary Ann Mento (1933-2016),
technical editor at ESSO Research and Engineering Company and contributor to
first book about technical editing in 1958
Gloria Miklowitz
(1927-2015), a technical writer at the Naval Ordnance Test Station - Pasadena
Annex in 1950s and later a well-known author of children's books
John "Mig" Mignot (c. 1931-2017), attended one of the earliest
meetings of the Technical Publishing Society in 1954 and STC Associate Fellow
Dorothy Saxner
(1924-2017), member of the TWE Chicago Chapter (1957), STWP director
(1967-1970), and STC fellow
Robert K. Shnitzler
(1918-2014), one of the founders of the Boston-based STW and the president of
STW (1956-1958) at the time of its merger with TWE to form STWE
Erwin R. Steinberg (1920-2012),
started and directed the first undergraduate degree program in technical
writing and editing in the U.S.
La Bonnie Bianchi Townsend, 1960
graduate of the RPI master’s degree program in technical writing
William M. Vaden (1921-2020), a
technical editor at the Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and
Technical Information Center, Oak Ridge (1947-1980s)
Frederick T. Van Veen (1930-2017),
editor of Transactions of IRE PGEWS (1962), chairman of IEEE PGEWS
(1963-1964), and program chairman of STC's annual conference (1971)
b. Interviews that my students
conducted under my supervision in 2011 and 2013
Donald H. Cunningham, founding
editor of The Technical Writing Teacher (now TCQ) and Fellow of STC and
ATTW
Ernest D. Mazzatenta (1931-2023),
president of STC (1983-1984) and STC fellow
Janis Ramey, a member of the first
graduating class of the first undergraduate program in technical writing and
editing in the U.S. and an STC fellow
Frederick M. O'Hara, technical
writer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1964-1970), STC director (1988-1991),
and STC fellow
Nade O. Peters (1925-2018), founder of the St. Louis
chapter of the Society of Technical Writers and Publishers (now STC) in 1961
Dwight W. Stevenson, co-author of Designing
Technical Reports and co-founder of the University of Michigan, Institute
on Teaching Technical and Professional Writing
Thomas L Warren (1937-2018), founder
of Oklahoma State University's technical communication program, past president
of Intecom, and STC fellow
Merrill D. Whitburn, Louis Ellsworth
Laflin Professor of English at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute
Kenneth J. Cook, president of STC
(1982-1983) and STC fellow