Founded in 1939 by co-sponsors Southern Methodist University and Temple Emanu-El, Community Course was a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the cultural life of SMU and the Dallas community. With seven or eight performances per season (October-April) held at SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium, Community Course provided a variety of lectures, musical performances, and theatrical productions, which catered to general public tastes. Only season tickets were sold – and quickly sold out – at a low price, while SMU students received free admission to all events. Yet from its very first season the series managed to operate without subsidies from its two sponsors.
Ronald C. Knickerbocker, an SMU alumnus and son of a school founder, served as executive director of the Community Course throughout its forty-year run. Part of the success of the flexible-format series stemmed from Knickerbocker’s ability to identify performers on the verge of international stardom and bring them to Dallas while their booking fees were still relatively low: for instance, Isaac Stern, Paco de Lucia, and Yehudi Menuhin all appeared on the Community Course stage as soon-to-be world-famous young artists. In addition, Knickerbocker also booked such well known figures as Salvador Dali and Thomas Mann, as well as a few popular returning acts including the three-time visit of Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
After forty seasons, the Community Course came to an end with Knickerbocker’s retirement in 1979, as the university administration decided to cancel the popular series due to the absence of a proper replacement for the longtime director.
Ronald C. Knickerbocker (1908-1984), a graduate of SMU, returned to his alma mater to serve as its first director of publicity in 1931. "Knick" had strong family ties to the university: his father, H.D. Knickerbocker, a Methodist preacher, had been one of the school’s founders, while his brother H.R. Knickerbocker established SMU’s journalism department. In nearly five decades of employment at SMU, Ronald C. Knickerbocker served as university photographer, director of the Office of Information and University Publications, and founding director of the SMU Archives. Yet his name is most associated with the Community Course, which he founded and directed throughout its forty-year tenure from 1939 to 1979. Knickerbocker, who had been the recipient of the 1968 Cultural Award by the Dallas-Fort Worth Art Directors Association in recognition of his achievements through the cultural entertainment series, retired in 1979 after the last season of the Community Course.
From the guide to the Community Course records SMU 1991. 0079., 1939-1981, 1965-1979, (Southern Methodist University Archives, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University)
