Computer History Museum

Gentry, Grace oral history

Grace Gentry reviews her personal background, how she met and married Richard Gentry, how she pursued her education after marriage and three children, and how she got into the data processing field. In the early 1970s, after Richard had become a freelance computer consultant, she joined him at Gentry, Incorporated , initially working as a computer consultant as well as having the primary responsibility for running their business. After a couple of successful years with large contracts for the County of Alameda in Oakland, CA, she began to work fulltime at managing and building the business. Gentry, Inc., was a pioneer in developing a business model that uses independent contractors paid on a "per hour worked" basis instead of salaried employees. Under Grace's direction, Gentry, Inc., built a substantial customer base and also expanded the business into developing their own software products and into the turn-key implementation of hardware/software solutions for their customers. The transcript includes clarifying comments, in brackets, inserted by Grace after the interview was completed and an addendum she wrote describing the sale of Gentry, Inc. to Personnel Group of America.

Item Details

Date
2006-05-24 (Made)
Type
Document
Catalogue number
102657985
Organization
Computer History Museum
People
Grace Gentry (Interviewee)
Luanne Johnson (Interviewer)
Category
Transcript
Extent
41 p.
Place of publication
USA/CA/Mountain View
Language
English
Acquisition number
X3592.2006
Subject
Section 1706, Software Business History, IBM, Software Contracting Businesses Association (SCBA), Independent Contractor, Gentry Incorporated
Archive collection
Oral history collection
Archive hierarchy
CHM Oral History Collection