SPECIAL ISSUE

Applied ResearchThe First Wave (1953–1961) of the Professionalization MovementFigure 9: EnglishProfessor HenriettaJ. Tichy (1912–1994?), the firstwoman fellow ofSTC (“Two Fellows,”1968). The authorof Effective Writingfor Engineers,Managers, andScientists (1966),Tichy taughttechnical writingand literatureat Hunter College in New York City. Photo from the STCarchives.TWE, STW, and TPS apparently had some successin “establishing” bona fide degree programs at collegesand universities. In the mid-1950s, STW worked closelywith administrators at Simmons College, a woman’scollege in Boston, to create a four-year undergraduatedegree program in technical writing. Students pursuingthis degree, in effect, had to double-major in journalismand one of the following technical/scientific areas:electronics, chemistry, or biology (“Program,” 1956).STW described its involvement as follows:… plans were not finalized until this past winter[1955–1956] after discussion between members ofthe School of Publications and practicing technicalwriters, members of the STW Boston ChapterEducation Committee. Stimulated by the interestshown by these STW members and by their promiseof cooperation, college officials approved immediateaction on the new program. (“Program,” 1956, p. 69)Launched in fall 1956, the curriculum for the degreeconsisted of such courses as graphic arts, editing andpublishing techniques, layout and design, and articlewriting, but no courses with the title “technical writing”or “technical editing” (“Program,” 1956). The title ofthe degree was “Technical Writing and Publishing,”however, rather than “Technical Journalism” (SimmonsCollege, 1957, p. 41). Other colleges and universities(e.g., Iowa State, Kansas State) were offering bachelor’sdegrees in technical journalism at an earlier date(Cortelyou, 1958), but the Simmons program may bethe first, nominally, in technical writing.In 1958, Erwin Steinberg, an English professor,started an undergraduate degree program in technicalwriting and editing at Margaret Morrison CarnegieCollege, the women’s college at Carnegie Institute ofTechnology (Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie MellonUniversity) in Pittsburgh (Figure 10). Steinberghad a working relationship with the TWE/STWEPittsburgh chapter, and especially its vice-chairman H.C. McDaniel. Each year at Carnegie Tech, Steinbergand McDaniel “put together a full day of lectures andworkshops on various aspects of technical writing oneday a year” (Erwin Steinberg, personal communication,June 28, 2007). It is likely that Steinberg consultedMcDaniel or the chapter about the curriculum for theCarnegie Tech degree. As the editor of the WestinghouseEngineer and the manager of a large group of technicalcommunicators at Westinghouse, McDaniel was thecenter of technical writing activity in Pittsburgh duringthis period (Janis Ramey, personal communication,September 9, 2009).Figure 10: English Professor Erwin R. Steinberg (b. 1921)with the first students in the technical writing and editingprogram at Margaret Morrison Carnegie College. Left toright: Ellen Brady, Sara Shook, Sally Gannon, Steinberg,Janis Geisler (aka STC Fellow Janis Ramey), and NancyFerree. Reprinted from the Pittsburgh Press, October 1958.By 1960, only a few universities were offering degreeprograms in technical communication, but STWP’sEducation and Professional Development Committee(EPPC) was already discussing STWP-sponsoredaccreditation of such programs. The following passagecomes from the minutes of the Nov. 4, 1960, STWPBoard of Directors Meeting:298 Technical Communication l Volume 58, Number 4, November 2011