Henry Gantt – a brief biography of the creator of the Gantt chart

Henry Gantt was born in Calvert County, Maryland on May 20, 1861 to Virgil Gantt and Mary Jane Steuart Gantt. He was the 4th child born into the family but unfortunately at the time of his birth he had only one living sibling, a sister (Margaret Heighe Gantt).  Two other babies, a boy (Thomas) and a girl (Susie) did not survive infancy.  At the time Henry Gantt was born, his family owned a plantation and a number of slaves. A month before he was born (April 12, 1861), the American Civil War began. Undoubtedly the start to his life was chaotic and full of hardship as were the lives of many southerners at the time. As a result of the Civil War, his family lost their plantation (and enslaved people) and ended up moving to Baltimore, Maryland.

His parents were strong believers in the value of education, as they pushed Henry to finish his secondary education at McDonogh School Baltimore in 1978. Today McDonogh School is a private, coeducational K-12 college prep school. At the time, the school was a all-white, semi-military school for orphan boys. The boys, including Henry worked on the farm in exchange for their tuition, room and board. Again, due to the family’s hardships following the war, one can surmise that this was a good option for getting an education.

After graduating from McDonogh, Henry Gantt went on to Johns Hopkins University to study engineering. He graduated in just two years (1980) and then went back to McDonogh School to teach for 3 years. He went on to get a Masters of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.

Henry Gantt married Mary Eliza Snow of Fitchburg, Massachusetts on November 29, 1899.

In 1884, Gantt began working as a draftsman at Poole & Hunt (an Baltimore iron foundry and machine-shop). The foundry employed over 700 workers and manufactured turbines, boilers, looms for the textile mills, transmission equipment for cable cars and even structural elements for the United States Capitol building. They also made the derricks, steam engines and lifting equipment for construction of the Capitol.

In 1887 he joined Frederick W. Taylor in applying scientific management principles to the work at Midvale Steel and Bethlehem Steel, working there with Taylor until 1893.

In his later career as an industrial consultant and following the invention of the Gantt chart, he designed the ‘task and bonus’ system of wage payment and additional measurement methods worker efficiency and productivity. In 1908-09 he undertook projects at Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company and Williams & Wilkins.

In 1916, the Ashbury Park Press reported on April 20, 1916 :

Henry Laurence Gantt of Montclair, from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, is a consulting engineer who was born in Maryland in 1861, educated at Stevens Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University, holding two degrees, and is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. He and several other engineers were named as directors by The US Naval Consulting Board. These engineers were to conduct a first-ever survey of American Manufacturing.

His obituary states:

Henry Laurence Gantt, one of the foremost industrial engineers of America and author of books on engineering, died suddenly Sunday evening  at his home in Montclair, of heart failure due to an attack of indigestion.

Mr. Gantt was born in Maryland in 1861 and was educated in Baltimore.  In association with the late Frederick W. Taylor, Mr. Gantt took a prominent part in the pioneer work done at the Midvale Steel Company’s plant.  During the war e developed a new method, thus assisting in the rapid production of war materials.

He was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Engineers’ and the Machinery clubs of New York.

Another obituary states:

Henry Laurence Gantt, an industrial engineer of national reputation, died Sunday evening at his home in Montclair, New Jersey, after an attact of indigestion. He was 57 years old.

Mr. Gantt received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Johns Hopkins University in 1880, and later toook a course in mechanical engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology. In association with the late Frederick W. Taylor, he helped to install modern methods of manufacture at the plant of the Midvale Steel Company and other large industrial establishments

During the war, as production adviser to the government, he developed a new method for the rapid production of war materials.

Mr. Gantt was the author of “Work Wages and Profits,” “Industrial Leadership,” and “Organizing for War Work.” as well as a number of articles in technical journals.

He was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Engineers’ Club, the Machinery Club, the American Geographic Society and the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

The Gantt Medal, established in 1929, memorializes the achievements and service to the community by Henry Laurence Gantt.

Henry Gantt and his wife had 1 daughter, Margaret Heighe Gantt. She became a physician. Her son, Laurence Gantt Taber graduated with a master of Science degree from Stevens Institute of Technology, the same college his grandfather attended. Consulting must run in the family, as Laurence became a computer consultant for Union Carbide.