Lillian Moller Gilbreth: Thought Provoking Engineer

by Linda Harris Sittig

I grew up in the 1950s and ‘60s with certain family traditions. One was that we ate dinner together at the kitchen table every night, except on Sundays when we were allowed to pull out the TV trays. Then we dined on Swanson’s Chicken Pot Pies in front of the TV, and watched a program together: usually Bonanza.

But on certain occasions, we gathered in front of the TV on an alternative night and watched a family movie together. One of my favorites was Cheaper by the Dozen. Based on the real life of the Gilbreth family, the plot involved how the eccentric father was always trying to make the home more efficient for his wife and twelve children, sometimes to hilarious results.

I remember one scene where the wife went shopping and when she came home the husband had rearranged the entire kitchen for efficiency. Even as a kid I instinctively knew this was not a good idea – to rearrange a woman’s kitchen without her input. And I remember my mother giving my dad the stink eye – just in case.

But what I did not know, was how incredibly well educated the real Mrs. Gilbreth had  been. And how she was a talented efficiency engineer, all on her own.

LILLIAN’S STORY

Lillian Moller Gilbreth was born in May, 1878, the oldest of ten children, to parents in Oakland, California. From an early age it was quite apparent how bright she was and she sailed through her classes in public school. When it came time to think about college, her merchant father vetoed the idea for any of his daughters. Lillian, however, convinced him to let her try just one year and see how she would do.

At the end of that first year at the University of California, Lillian had one of the highest grade point averages in the freshman class. Her father relented and allowed her to stay and earn a degree. However, she still had to live at home and help out with the other children. As graduation neared, she was asked to speak at the Commencement Exercises, the first female to ever hold that honor. And the first of many honors she would receive in her lifetime.

She graduated from the University of California with a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature and then stayed two additional years to earn a Master’s Degree in the same discipline. But then life changed in 1904 when she met Frank Gilbreth, a self-taught construction engineer who specialized in the fledgling field of motion study. Lillian was fascinated by Frank’s projects and took a keen interest in his studies.

LILLIAN BEGINS TO STUDY ENGINEERING

Although Lillian’s university degrees were in literature, she possessed an uncanny talent for psychology. She shared her insights with Frank and together they agreed that there was a lack of psychology in engineering, and that the field could benefit from such.

Lillian decided to pursue a Doctorate in Psychology and wrote her thesis on The Psychology of Management. The University of California, however, required at least one full year of residency in order to achieve a Doctorate.  This would be impossible for Lillian since she and Frank had already started their family (which in time would number 12 children). Frank helped her turn her thesis instead into installment papers which were published in 1912 – 1913, and later published as a book.

It is interesting to note that her publisher stipulated they would only publish her book, if she used the initials L.M. Gilbreth, so no one would realize the author was a woman.

Hmmm.

Soon afterward Frank was offered a job near Brown University in Rhode Island. He would help to install a plan for scientific management at a large factory.  Lillian became friends with the President of Brown, and subsequently applied to be admitted for a Doctorate. She did receive her Ph.D. and gave birth to her next child just a few weeks later.

Together, Lillian and Frank made an impressive team and were hired for their expertise in the psychology of worker efficiency. They analyzed their own home, particularly the kitchen, to see how the space could be used more efficiently and often tried out experiments involving the children as well. (This would later be the basis for the book written by two of their children, and eventually the Hollywood movie, Cheaper by the Dozen).

The Gilbreths were well on their way to becoming internationally recognized for their expertise.

But then, the unthinkable happed.

At the age of 55, preparing to deliver a speech at a conference in Prague, Frank Gilbreth died of a sudden heart attack. Lillian, now a single mother of twelve, never hesitated. She asked family members to take care of the children while she traveled to Prague and delivered Frank’s speech.

ON HER OWN

From that moment on, Lillian Gilbreth worked tirelessly to continue on with the work that she and Frank had started together. She wrote or co-authored ten books on efficiency in both the home and the workplace, she gave hundreds of lectures, and she secured patents for her inventions that would improve the efficiency of a woman’s kitchen.

By the end of her long life, she had amassed many honors, including being the first female member inducted into the American Society of Industrial Engineers and a professor at Purdue University. Looking back now at Cheaper by the Dozen, I wish I had known as a young girl just how prolific Mrs. Gilbreth had been in the field of industrial engineering.

Today, I, like many of you, use her inventions every day.

LILLIAN’S LEGACY

Does your kitchen follow the L shape efficiency design where the sink, refrigerator, and oven/stove are arranged in a pattern where they are only a few steps away from each other? Thank you Lillian Gilbreth.

Do you have a foot pedal trash can? Thank you Lillian Gilbreth.

Do you have shelves in you refrigerator doors? Thank you Lillian Gilbreth.

Do you use a special shelf in your refrigerator for butter and eggs? Thank you Lillian Gilbreth.

Does your kitchen utilize wall switches for electric lighting? Thank you Lillan Gilbreth.

And lastly, while you may not know this, before Lillian Gilbreth, the height of kitchen counter tops were calculated based on the height of an average man. Thank goodness Lillian campaigned for all kitchen counter tops to be built based on the height of an average woman.

Hollywood may have portrayed Lillian Gilbreth as the model housewife of an industrial engineer, but the truth is that Lillian Gilbreth was herself the model of industrial engineering.

A strong woman whose influence from the 1920s still enhances our lives.

I hope you enjoyed Lillian’s story. If you are not yet a follower of the Strong Woman blog, please sign up on the right sidebar. Once a month you will receive another Strong Woman’s story.

Writing about Strong Women is my passion, and the protagonist in each of my five books was a woman who fought to overcome obstacles in achieving her life’s dream. Book number six is out for consideration with a publisher and features a dual time narrative with two strong women who tell their stories, eighty years apart.

~ linda:)

Author of: Cut From Strong Cloth, Last Curtain Call, Counting Crows, B 52 DOWN (finalist for the 2025 CIBA International Book Award), and Opening Closed Doors. Each title can be ordered from any bookstore or online through Amazon.