History of Ridley-Lowell

Lowell School of Business in New York was established in 1850 by Daniel W. Lowell. In 1858, Mr. Lowell changed the name to Binghamton Commercial College and shortly thereafter to Lowell's Commercial College. In 1876, John E. Bloomer joined the staff and became principal 12 years later in 1888. At the time of his death in 1932, Mr. Bloomer had spent more than 50 years of his life supervising the training of thousands of young men and women for business careers.

Ridley Secretarial School was founded in New York in 1936 by Earle D. Ridley. Under his direction, its entire history has been one of providing business training for its students and, in turn, supplying the business and professional communities with personnel fully acquainted with and thoroughly trained in the most modern office techniques of the day.

In 1962, Lowell's Commercial College was acquired by Mr. Ridley. On January 1, 1968, the schools were consolidated into one structure; today the school is one of America's oldest private business schools in continuous operation.

The New London School of Business was founded in Connecticut as a school of business and secretarial science in 1887. At that time, the school served the community by preparing men for office work in telegraphy, penmanship and bookkeeping. Later, the school also prepared women for office positions.

On July 1, 1976, the schools became one corporate structure under the leadership of its current president, W.T. Weymouth. The success of its students as active members of the workforce and our school’s dedication to the continued success of its communities led to a later demand for expansion. In response to this demand,  a campus was opened in 1998 in Poughkeepsie, New York, and more recently in Danbury, Connecticut, in 2010.

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