The development of McGraw-Hill, Inc. and its part in educational, industrial, and technical development in the US and abroad are traced in a series of interviews begining with the lives of James H. McGraw (1860-1948) and John A. Hill (1858-1912). Associates recall the career of each as a publisher of trade and technical magazines. Others deal with the merger of the book publishing activities of the two companies as the McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1909, and the purchase of the Hill interest in trade magazines by McGraw to form the McGraw-Hill Publishing Company in 1916. Interviews continue the story of the company's expansion through the acquisition of the F.W. Dodge Corporation, 1961, which brought the firm into the field of information services, the purchase of such periodicals as HOUSE & HOME and MODERN PACKAGING, and the acquisition of the Webster Publishing Co. Editors of McGraw-Hill trade, educational, and business publications discuss editorial and circulation policy, standards of responsibility in dealing with readers and advertisers, and new functions and fields for the company's publications and instructional materials. Special phases include: changes in the writing and publishing of college textbooks for courses in vocational education; elementary and high school materials, visual education aids, programmed books, and text films; Whittlesey House and trade book publishing, paperback books, technical writing, training manuals for the US armed forces, and international editions of textbooks. Interviewees give background on such McGraw publications as the CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD ART, and SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY as well as more recent corporate developements. The project is brought up to date periodically. Part I was done during 1953 and 1954; Part II during 1955 and 1956. Part III was done in 1964 and Part IV in 1973.
