The History of Shorthand

Shorthand has always existed. The first Western examples in the English language date from the time of Shakespeare, when it may have been used to transcribe his plays for illegal publication. There were hundreds of forms of shorthand, rather than the two or three that were popular in the 20th century, and the multiplicity of forms enabled it to be used as a secret code. With the advent of cheap paper for newsprint and the explosive growth of printing in the mid-19th century, shorthand became a method of capturing the spoken word, as with the speeches of Abraham Lincoln. Shorthand was so popular by the end of the 19th century that there were many societies and associations holding conferences devoted to spreading its use - it had become a social movement. That period ended when the typewriter was invented and women took over the field. Then the Gregg and Pitman shorthands became the most widely used versions in the growing workplace. Now, with modern technology, shorthand is still continually changing and most frequently uses some form of machine or computer. The closed-captioning that we see on television is one of the more technically complex forms. Yes, it's real people doing that.