Research Catalog

John Robert Gregg collection

Title: John Robert Gregg collection, 1623-1980, bulk (1900-1946).
Author: Gregg, John Robert, 1867-1948.
Supplementary Content: Finding Aid

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Details

Additional Authors

Description

128 linear feet (263 boxes, 1 map tube).

Subjects

Genre/Form

Photographs.
Audio tapes.
Motion pictures.
Sound recordings.

Access (note)

Restricted access;

Source (note)

Howell, Janet Kinley Gregg; John Robert Gregg, Jr.; Gregg Publishing Co.

Biography (note)

John Robert Gregg (1867-1948) was an inventor of shorthand, educator and the founder of the Gregg Publishing Company.

Processing Action (note)

Processed.
Cataloging updated

Call Number

MssCol 1242

Author

Gregg, John Robert, 1867-1948.

Title

John Robert Gregg collection, 1623-1980, bulk (1900-1946).

Restricted Access

Restricted access; Manuscripts and Archives Division; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.

Summary

Collection reflects Gregg's career as an inventor, educator and publisher of Gregg Shorthand and related commercial education material. Collection is composed of Gregg Publishing Company records, Light-Line Phonography Company records and John Gregg's personal file. Records of the Gregg Publishing Company, 1893-1963, contain domestic records, foreign records, documents, writings, galley proofs, and printed material. Subjects include Gregg shorthand, Gregg shorthand manuals, business education, competition from rival shorthand systems and the company's participation in the Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915). Noted employees include H.L. Carrad, Louis A. Leslie, Rupert P. Sorelle and W.W. Renshaw. There are a few records of Light-Line Phonography Company, 1885-1897, which covers the period before the establishment of the Gregg Publishing Company.

Gregg's personal papers, 1892-1962, contain letters, documents, printed material, and photographs that reflect his personal life and interests.

Additions, 1623-1980, supplement the Gregg Publishing Company records, Light-Line Phonography Company records, and the personal papers of John Robert Gregg and his wife Janet. Correspondents in the personal papers include Faith Baldwin. Special format material includes photographs of Gregg and other individuals, sound recordings and audiotapes of interviews with Gregg and his wife and friends, and motion pictures of Gregg's vacation trips, and artifacts.

Biography

John Robert Gregg (1867-1948) was an inventor of shorthand, educator and the founder of the Gregg Publishing Company. The company was established in 1893 in Chicago; Gregg moved the headquarters to New York City between 1907 and 1908. Eventually, he established branches throughout the United States and Canada. Gregg also established the Gregg Publishing Company Ltd., a separate company, in England in 1925. Around 1922 Gregg bought the DeBear School Ltd. and renamed it Gregg Schools Ltd., Great Britain. In 1948 the Gregg Publishing Company and its holdings were sold to the McGraw-Hill Company and it became their subsidiary. The McGraw-Hill Publishing Company has continued to publish monographs on Gregg shorthand.

Finding Aids