Ronald C. Knickerbocker’s affiliation with Southern Methodist University began in the early 1930s with his hiring as the university’s first information director, due in some measure to the friendship of his father, Rev. H.D. Knickerbocker, a prominent Methodist clergyman in Texas and Arkansas, with SMU president Charles Selecman. Ronald Knickerbocker filled many roles during his over forty years of employment with SMU, including those of photographer, publications producer, and fundraiser before taking on his longest-running duties, those of directing the Community Course. His long association with SMU resulted in his authoring the entry for the university in the 1952 edition of the Handbook of Texas and functioning briefly as university archivist in the late 1960s. In addition, Knickerbocker was active in several other organizations concerning the cultural life of Dallas, such as the Dallas Fine Arts Commission for Civilian Defense during World War II. A former SMU administrator who worked closely with Knickerbocker characterized him-admiringly-as a "likeable maverick."
Knickerbocker served as Executive Director of the Community Course from its inception in 1937 through the late 1970s. Co-sponsored by Temple Emanu-El, the largest Reformed Jewish temple in Dallas, the Community Course presented cultural events on the SMU campus, usually in McFarlin Auditorium. These included instrumental and vocal performances by then relatively unknown individuals such as Isaac Stern as well as lectures by notable public figures such as Dean Acheson, Norman Cousins, Salvador Dali, Sinclair Lewis, and Thomas Mann. As director of this program, Knickerbocker received publicity materials from representatives of these and many other artists and celebrities, which are included in the collection. Knickerbocker also took an interest in piano performances and recitals, especially in Dallas, and the collection includes numerous programs documenting these, dating from the 1890s.
Knickerbocker continued to work with The Community Course even after his official retirement from SMU in 1974. He died in Dallas on April 8, 1984.
From the guide to the R. C. Knickerbocker collection of performing arts materials., 1887-1981, 1960-1980, (Jerry Bywaters Special Collections, Hamon Arts Library, Southern Methodist University)
