Photo from Dickinson College Photo Collections

    Ralph Schecter was born on September 28, 1893 and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1916. He taught at various high schools such as the Council Bluffs (Iowa) High School(1916-1917) and the Okmulgee High School(1919) as an English teacher before coming to Dickinson College as an Instructor in English in 1922. Schecter describes that at his appointment to the Dickinson faculty, he was "one of the three young men added to a faculty of much older men, most whom had been here a long time"¹.
    James Henry Morgan, President of Dickinson College at the time, appointed Schecter to be the Director of Music and the director of the Orchestra and Band. Schecter was a very versatile faculty member because he taught music, public speaking and English. Most of the students involved with the band and orchestra, did not know how to play instruments and it was up to Schecter to teach them how to play. In 1937, Schecter created a new Dickinson Song Book which required over two years of collecting Dickinsonian music² . Every school day for more then twenty-five years, Schecter had his ensemble play two new pieces at chapel services. This alone showed that Schecter conducted over a thousand music compositions. He also arranged some of his own music³ .
    In 1958, Schecter was bestowed with the Thomas Beaver Chair of Literature and retired in 1961. Schecter served under six presidents during his time at Dickinson. James Henry Morgan, one of the six presidents, stated that Schecter "greatly enriched the musical life of the whole college"⁴ . Many students remember "the crisp, no-nonsense manner" in which Schecter taught in. Schecter states,"I never tried to make myself popular with the students, I taught them what I thought they needed."⁵.Schecter was awarded the Distinguished Teachers Award from the Lindback Foundation during the 1960's.
    Outside of Dickinson College, Schecter was a member of the Second Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, the Masons, and the local Elks club. Schecter was also involved with the 23^rd engineers of the A.E.F. during World War I. He served as the conductor of the 243^th Engineers Band in France⁶. Schecter married Rheasa Madden in 1922. Ralph Schecter died on December 7, 1980.

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Class of 1934     Chronicles Dickinson College

Dickinson 1934 is a project of Prof. Osborne's History 204 Class, Fall Semester 2000.