Ira Samuel Griffith

Ira Samuel Griffith was an American author and teacher of manual arts whose books helped introduce woodworking and carpentry to students in the early 1900s. Project Gutenberg’s edition of Carpentry identifies him as the chairman of the Manual Arts Department at the University of Missouri, and the book itself was published by Manual Arts Press in 1916.

His writing is direct and hands-on. In the preface to Carpentry, he says the book was meant to serve apprentices, vocational and trade school students, and manual-training students, reflecting a practical approach shaped by real shop experience.

Griffith also wrote other instructional works in the same field, including Advanced Projects in Woodwork and Teaching Manual and Industrial Arts. Across these books, he appears as a writer focused on useful teaching, careful technique, and making craft knowledge accessible to learners.