"The Evolution of Technical Communication at Lukens Steel, 1810-1925"

Complex technology necessitated increasing levels of literacy among workers and engineers in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries.This paper analyzes the changes in technical communication in a single company, Lukens Steel, between the years 1810 and 1925.Until 1870, literacy was not necessary in the workplace; only the owners wrote letters and kept accounting records.By the end of the 19 th century, quantitative literacy became increasingly important across the plant as foremen kept records of increasingly complex output.In the early 20 th century, verbal and visual literacy became important as foremen and managers communicated by hand-written notes across the plant.By 1915 a new type of worker, the stenographer typist, bridged the gap between levels of literacy and enabled the exponential increase of communication.In the 21 st century, literacy is an individual responsibility, so that the teaching of communication has become central to success in the engineering workplace.