Franklin Institute collection

Collection

Identifier: D.491

Staff Only

Biographical / Historical note

The Franklin Institute was founded in 1904 by the Keenan family. Eventually John L. Keenan and his brother Edward would serves as presidents of the company. The Institute offered men and later, women, training materials to successfully find jobs in civil service. Their lessons and examinations prepared potential employees for jobs as a railway postal clerk, stenographer, mail carrier, messenger, and correctional officer, among other career paths. The company sent their lessons and exams by mail to those who enrolled in the program. There were no classes held in person. The company continued to offer its training programs through at least 1949.

Scope and Contents

The Franklin Institute Collection includes lesson plans and test scores related to their civil service career training programs. The majority of the items in this collection are from 1924-1925.

Series I: General education courses, consists of materials related to general competence courses, including arithmetic, geography, the ability to read addresses correctly, and other sundry topics. The materials include correspondence course lessons, instructions, advertisements and solicitations for course enrollment, and other correspondence.

Series II: Fashion and dressmaking courses (1924-1925) consists of materials related to lessons #1-65 (missing #36-40) of the Franklin Institute's fashion and dressmaking courses. The materials are largely printed correspondence course lessons, solicitations and forms for enrollment, and some correspondence with feedback on submitted assignments.

Creator

Franklin Institute (Rochester, N.Y.) (Organization)

Dates

Creation: 1912, 1924-1925

Language of Materials

English

Extent

.50 linear feet (2 boxes)

Access

The Franklin Institute Collection is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.

Use

In consultation with a curator, reproductions may be made upon request. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from a curator. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Franklin Institute Collection was made a gift of Karl Kabelac in 2015.

Preferred Citation

[Item title, item date], Franklin Institute Collection, D.491, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Arrangement

As the course materials themselves are undated, dates listed in this finding aid have been taken from postmark dates and other correspondence notes, and may not reflect the actual date of the printed publications.