The Baldridge Family Legacy

Teaching students to read faster and study smarter since 1956 in Greenwich, Connecticut.

How It Began

My parents met in New York City in the 1950s. My father, Kenneth Patrick Baldridge, earned his degree at the University of Cincinnati, where he was a varsity fencer, and his professional training was in clinical psychology. My mother, Lila, earned her master's degree from Columbia University in New York.

Together they founded Baldridge Reading and Study Skills, Inc. in 1956 as a teaching organization, with its office on Grigg Street in Greenwich, Connecticut, right next to where Diane's Books is today. The company grew to 30 teachers and 30 salespeople.

As Co-Directors, my parents researched, developed, and supervised Baldridge instruction throughout the United States, Canada, and overseas. They also co-authored a number of publications with major publishers, including Harcourt, Brace & Company and Prentice Hall. My sister, Joy Baldridge, became Co-Director in 1981.

1966: Reading Speed and Strategy

In 1966, my father published Reading Speed and Strategy for the Business and Professional Person. By then, he had set up or directed reading programs for more than 50 major corporations, including IBM, and had supervised reading programs at more than 350 secondary schools and colleges across the United States.

In the Heart of Greenwich

Our reading center was on Grigg Street, between Greenwich Avenue and Arch Street in the center of Greenwich. Our office was right next to where Diane's Books is today, and Diane still runs her family bookstore there.

We did all of our mailings to private schools, Ivy League colleges, and universities at the former post office on Greenwich Avenue.

In 1968, my mother opened Health Well Natural Foods, the first health food store in Greenwich. My parents owned the store and its property on Greenwich Avenue, right next to the old movie theater that is now the Apple Store. As she liked to say, "It didn't make money, it didn't lose money, but we educated a lot of people."

1978: The White House

I went on this trip with my parents. I was too young to get security clearance for the training, so while my father and our instructors taught in the Indian Treaty Room, I toured the White House. I still remember the entire trip. We toured the city, from the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument to the Smithsonian, and stayed at a hotel in Foggy Bottom.

We also visited Arlington National Cemetery, where my grandparents are buried together, along with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Eternal Flame at President John F. Kennedy's grave.

Our family comes from Kentucky and Tennessee and has a proud history of service. My grandfather was a World War I veteran who served in the cavalry and received a Purple Heart. My grandmother was made a Kentucky Colonel for running a one-room schoolhouse in Kentucky. My father was a World War II veteran who served in the South Pacific aboard a fast battleship, saw combat, and played the piccolo in the Navy band.

1979: Seven Reading Strategies

In 1979, my father wrote Seven Reading Strategies. Many Ivy League and private colleges and universities bought it in bulk, and it was sold as part of the faculty and teacher workshops our family taught through the late 1970s and 1980s. College libraries carried it as well.

The Greenwich Library

Back home in Greenwich, my parents loved the Greenwich Library, and we spent many hours there.

1950s to 2000s: More Than 400 Schools and Colleges

From the 1950s through the 2000s, our family's program was taught at more than 400 schools, colleges, and universities, and to professionals at leading companies and government offices. It reached Ivy League and private universities such as Yale, Columbia, Brown, Johns Hopkins, and Colgate, and private, Christian, Catholic, Hebrew, and military schools such as Jackson Academy, Norfolk Academy, Admiral Farragut Academy, and Virginia Military Institute, helping more than 100,000 students.

Colleges and universities include:

Private, Christian, Catholic, and military schools include:

Beyond the United States, the program was taught in Canada and overseas in Brussels, Munich, Vienna, Las Palmas, and Tokyo. One of the most unusual Baldridge programs was taught aboard the S.S. Universe, between mainland China and Sri Lanka, on a Semester at Sea voyage around the world.

Professionals learned it at IBM, General Electric, J.P. Morgan & Co., Time-Warner, Reader's Digest, Alcan, and the U.S. Department of Labor. William F. Buckley Jr., the famed writer and commentator, studied with my parents to increase his reading speed.

See all Ivy League & private school locations

Remembering My Mother, Lila Baldridge

My mother, Lila "Dusty" Baldridge, was born in New York City on July 17, 1931. A reading specialist and a pioneer in reading comprehension and study strategies, she helped college students, teachers, corporate executives, and the White House staff under President Jimmy Carter. She co-authored three books on education, played several musical instruments, and was active at the Greenwich Senior Center.

She cared about every person she met and wanted to know what motivated people to become learners. When asked for her advice to young people, she said:

She passed away on March 2, 2018, at the age of 86. My father, her husband of 48 years, passed away in 2003.

2001: Professors' Family Secrets for Raising Very Smart Children

In 2001, I helped my parents write Professors' Family Secrets for Raising Very Smart Children. For the book, they interviewed more than 100 college deans and professors about how they were raised by their parents, guardians, or grandparents: at mealtime, while traveling, at bedtime, and more.

I am now working on the book's second edition.

The Legacy Continues

Today, our Midwest director teaches the Baldridge Reading and Study Strategy Program at private colleges in Ohio. As Co-Director, I am proud to carry on my family's legacy, now and into the future.

Clifford P. Baldridge

Co-Director, Baldridge Reading and Study Strategy Program