Keeping It Brief!

News and information from the Dickinson Law Library

You are here: Home / Archives for William Trickett

Clarence Muse

by

Clarence Muse was born on October 7, 1889.  He grew up in Baltimore, and at his mother’s urging, entered Dickinson Law in 1908, as Dickinson Law’s first African American student.  Muse, however, felt the theater calling, and left his pursuit of a career in the law to pursue acting.  He performed first in New York and later in Chicago before he was lured by Hollywood with an offer to appear in the film Hearts in Dixie, one of the first full-length feature films with sound and one of the first, if not the first, to feature a predominantly African American cast.  Muse loved theater and he was not initially sold on the idea of appearing in a “talkie” or going to Hollywood.  Therefore, he demanded what was an “outrageous” sum of money at the time, $1,250.00 per week.  He got it, so Muse went to Hollywood.

Earning the nickname, “The Dean of Black Actors,” Muse appeared in over 200 films during his career.  His film credits include Huckleberry Finn (1931), The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), Way Down South (1939), Invisible Ghost (1941), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Porgy and Bess (1959), and The Black Stallion (1979), which would be his last film appearance.  Although Muse was criticized later in life for having taken on stereotypical servant roles during his acting career, the criticism did not seem to bother him.  “I have no sad story to tell,” he was quoted as saying, in reference to his life.  Furthermore, contrary to his critics, Muse was a strong advocate for better roles for African Americans, often suggesting roles to the writers he worked with.

In addition to his successful acting career, Muse was a writer, composer, director, and singer.  Muse’s best known song, “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” was made famous by Louis Armstrong.  Muse also worked with the likes of Frank Capra, Bing Crosby and Bela Lugosi, just to name a few.  Of his Hollywood connections, Muse said, “Me and Frank Capra were as close as father and son.  I had a cup of coffee and doughnut with John Wayne every morning.  Wallace Beery was a tough son-of-a-gun with everybody, but we were friends.”  Over the course of his life, Muse received numerous awards and commendations for his contributions to the arts and humanities.  In 1972, Muse received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Bishop College in Dallas, Texas for his contributions.  Among his other achievements, Muse was also one of the founders of the Screen Actors’ Guild, and he was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973.

Muse was 88 years old, on June 3, 1978, when The Dickinson School of Law presented him with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.  Muse traveled to Carlisle to accept the degree.  He attended the annual alumni/senior class dinner where he entertained the audience with tales from his days as a student at Dickinson Law, before singing “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South.”

Muse, in multiple interviews, credited his time at Dickinson Law, and Dean Trickett in particular, with this phrase, which became his philosophy in life:  “I never met a man or woman who had enough intelligence to insult me.”

Clarence Muse passed away in October 1979, shortly after his 90th birthday.  The Law Library maintains a framed display of photos of Clarence Muse at the circulation desk.2

1 Clarence Muse is also featured in another Keeping It Brief! post from 2017, and in Burton Laub’s book, The Dickinson School of Law – Proud and Independent.

Dickinson Law: A History of the Law Library

by

In 1833, Judge John Reed approached the Trustees of Dickinson College with the idea of operating a law school out of his home.  The Law School, commonly referred to as Judge Reed’s Law School, opened on April 1, 1834, but suspended operations sometime after Judge Reed’s death.  A letter from Judge Reed indicates that he had “an extensive law library” planned for his Law School.  However, it is unclear what happened to the Law Library’s collection after his death.

Law Library at Emory Hall (1897)

In 1890, the Law School was incorporated, and reopened as The Dickinson School of Law.[1]  The Law School’s home was Emory Hall, which was leased from Dickinson College.  William Trickett, the Dean of the Law School, provided books from his own private collection for the Law Library.  In 1892, Issa Tanimura, a student from Japan, organized a carnival to benefit the Law Library.  The proceeds were used to expand the Library’s collection by over 800 volumes.

Law Library in Trickett Hall (1959)

In 1918, the Law School moved to its present location at the corner of South and College Streets, in Carlisle.  The new building was dedicated, and named Trickett Hall, in Dean Trickett’s honor.  The Law Library occupied a 54 by 60-foot room on the second floor of Trickett Hall and was described in the 1918 Law School catalog as containing around 6,000 volumes.  On June 8, 1940, the Board of Trustees of the Law School authorized the employment of a full-time librarian.  William Dodd, who also served as a professor, was the first one appointed to this position.

Library Research Center (1964)

On November 27, 1962, ground was broken for the addition of a Library/Research Center to Trickett Hall.  The new Library/Research Center was dedicated on May 2, 1964, and in a ceremony on October 14, 1972, was named the Sheely-Lee Library, after Judge W. Clarence Sheely and Dr. Harry Lee, who had served as Presidents of the Law School, from 1940 to 1959 and 1959 to 1962, respectively.

In 1977, ground was broken for the construction of a new Library/Advocacy Center.  This construction increased stack space and student study space, allowing the Law Library to hold up to 120,000 volumes.  The Law Library at the time had over 100,000 volumes in its collection.  The expansion allowed the Law Library to become a United States Government Documents Depository.  The expansion also allowed for the addition of two audiovisual rooms and a Lexis terminal for legal research.  The addition of a Center for Advanced Legal Education to the Law School in 1985 added additional space to the Law Library.

In 1997, The Dickinson School of Law began its merger with the Pennsylvania State University.  This merger was completed in 2000.  On January 23, 2008, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for what would be an extensive makeover of the Law School’s Carlisle location.[2]  During construction, the Law School and Library were moved to a temporary location in Carlisle.  The additions that had been made to Trickett Hall over the years were demolished and replaced with a new building, named Lewis Katz Hall, in honor of Lewis Katz, a philanthropist, businessman and alum, who donated $15 million dollars to the Law School.  The exterior of Trickett Hall was restored and the interior received a complete makeover.

The Law Library was moved into Trickett Hall and renamed the H. Laddie Montague, Jr. Law Library in honor of H. Laddie Montague, Jr., Class of 1963, who donated $4 million dollars to the Law School.  Faculty and staff moved into the new space on December 21, 2009, and students resumed classes there on January 11, 2010.  The Library occupies space on all three levels of Trickett Hall, with a variety of options for students to study either individually or in groups.  Individuals seeking quiet study may choose to do so at reading tables on the second floor, carrels on the bottom level, or at a variety of soft seating locations throughout the Library.  Students who wish to study in groups may reserve time in one of the Library’s group study rooms, which are equipped with Mersive Solstice pods for wireless display connectivity and collaboration.  The Law Library is particularly excited about the recent launch of its digital repository, Dickinson Law IDEAS.

[1] While many believe that the Law School was part of Dickinson College, the two were in fact separate institutions.
[2] Meanwhile, ground had broken on January 18, 2007 for the construction of a law school building at University Park.  While that building was under construction, students attended classes elsewhere on the University Park campus.  Classes resumed in the new building on January 9, 2009.  This building, which houses Penn State Law, is named after Lewis Katz, and the Law Library is named after H. Laddie Montague, Jr.

The Ghost (and second Dean) of Dickinson Law: Walter Harrison Hitchler

by

Have you heard unexplained noises while studying in the Law Library late at night?  If so, then it is possible you have encountered the spirit of Dickinson Law’s second Dean, Walter Harrison Hitchler.

Dean Walter Harrison Hitchler

Walter Harrison Hitchler was born on February 20, 1883 in Plymouth, Pennsylvania.  As a youth, he attended Harry Hillman Academy in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.  He received his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Virginia in 1905.  After graduation, he worked as an editor for the Michie Publishing Company before becoming a member of the faculty at Dickinson Law in the fall of 1906.

In the summer of 1928, Dean William Trickett, realizing that his health was failing, wrote a letter to Hitchler, indicating that “I think you are the member of the faculty on whom the deanship now properly devolves.”  Hitchler was appointed as Dean of the Law School in 1930.

Hitchler faced many challenges as Dean, including World War II.  To sustain the Law School during World War II, Dean Hitchler devised a plan that would allow for an accelerated program for law students and a liberal return policy for those who found their studies interrupted by the War.

Hitchler’s additional accomplishments are too numerous to efficiently summarize.  In 1933, he moved for the Law School’s readmittance to the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).  The Law School was readmitted to that organization in 1934.

Under Dean Hitchler’s guidance, the Law School began publishing a weekly student newspaper called the Bill of Particulars.  Hitchler also revived the Law School’s yearbook, under a new name, Res Ipsa Loquitur, in 1941.

Dean Hitchler played a vital role in the construction of a dormitory on the Law School campus.  The Sadler Curtilage, which included a section named after Dean Hitchler, opened in 1952.  The Curtilage included an apartment, which was occupied by Dean Hitchler.

Hitchler was considered an expert in the field of criminal law, writing many articles, as well as a book, The Law of Crimes, on the subject.  Hitchler taught courses in equity, pleadings, bailments, and criminal law, but he was most remembered by his students for his criminal law course, where he was fond of using colorful hypotheticals to demonstrate his point.

“Suppose I take a saw, go to the [Cumberland Valley] Railroad Station and chop off Mr. Burke’s head.”  Junior History, Microcosm (1916).

“If I were to hit Mr. Magarick on the head with a baseball bat – the violence that was verbally practiced on me because I sat up front, was legion.”  Pat Magarick, Reminiscences of a Septuagenarian, Bill of Particulars, (May 1977).

Upon Dean Hitchler’s retirement:

“Ours is the last class.  No other will be hit over the head with a baseball bat in the interest of illustrating some fine point of criminal law.”  Dedication, Res Ipsa Loquitur (1955).

“We all had our chance to be hit on the head with a baseball bat…[T]hose assaults and batteries will long be remembered…and we thank him for them.”  Class History, Res Ipsa Loquitur (1956).

Despite these ongoing hypothetical assaults on students in his criminal law classes, Hitchler was well-known for his generosity.  He often paid students’ tuition out of his own pocket.  In his Last Will and Testament, he bequeathed most of his estate, the equivalent of more than $300,000, to the Law School.

Hitchler on his bicycle.  This bicycle remains a part of the Law School Archives Collection.

After his retirement, Hitchler remained at the Law School as an advisor to students and faculty.  He continued to reside in the Curtilage during that time.  He passed away at a local hospital on February 5, 1959.

However, it appears that Hitchler’s spirit never left the Law School.  According to an article in the Bill of Particulars, unexplained noises began to be heard in the Law School shortly after Dean Hitchler’s passing.  One such report came from a long-time professor of the Law School, William H. Dodd, who reported hearing “a concussion or crash of such deafening intensity that I was thoroughly shocked.”  Dodd reported the incident to the police, who searched the building and found nothing.  Former Dean Burton R. Laub, author of The Dickinson School of Law:  Proud and Independent, also reported hearing footsteps in the Law School when no one was around.  Mystery Haunts Law School, Bill of Particulars (October 30, 1968).

Yet, perhaps the most telling evidence of a spectral visitor occurred when a woman cleaning Dean Hitchler’s empty apartment was frightened by a man stepping out of one of the rooms, wearing a purple and yellow robe.  It was Hitchler’s custom to wear a purple and yellow robe for lounging.  What made the incident even more interesting is that the woman was new to the Law School and had never met or seen Hitchler in person.  Therefore, she could not have known this fact about Hitchler.  Mystery Haunts Law School, Bill of Particulars (Oct. 30, 1968).

In case you are frightened by these tales of mysterious happenings, don’t be.  By all accounts, Hitchler loved the Law School dearly.  Therefore, if Hitchler’s spirit remains, he surely remains only to ensure that all is well with the School that he loved so much.  After all, “what revered institution has not its friendly ghost to stand guard over it?”  Burton R. Laub, The Dickinson School of Law:  Proud and Independent (1983).

Dickinson Law: Emory Hall (1890-1917)

by

Emory Chapel was born out of a split in the Methodist Church congregation in Carlisle.  In the 1850’s, relations between college-oriented members and the rest of the congregation had become tense, and the college members made the decision to split from the Church.  In 1857, the college congregation acquired the lot at the northeast corner of South West Street and West Pomfret Street as the new location for their church.  The Victorian Gothic structure, designed by Thomas Balbirnie, became known as Emory Chapel, in memory of Robert Emory, the second Methodist president of Dickinson College.

From 1863 to 1866, Emory Chapel served a second purpose by holding classes for the Emory Female College, which was established as a wartime effort to further women’s education.  Sometime during the 1870’s, the two Methodist congregations reunified, with services moving from Emory Chapel to another location.  Dickinson College assumed the debts of Emory Chapel in 1877 and used the space for its Grammar School until 1886.

By the time then-President George Reed, of Dickinson College, offered the use of Emory Chapel to The Dickinson School of Law, the Chapel had fallen into a “very dilapidated state.”  William C. Allison, Esq. provided the funding to restore the Chapel into the Law School’s home.  The building was described as “admirably adapted for its purposes” in the 1890-1891 Catalog.

Class in Emory Hall

Emory Hall opened for classes on October 1, 1890.  However, it soon became apparent that despite the improvements made to the building, a new home for the school was required.  The Law School occupied Emory Hall through 1917, before moving to its new home, Trickett Hall, in January 1918.  Emory Hall was thereafter sold and torn down.

Law Library at Emory Hall

Those who attended the Law School while it was housed in Emory Hall remembered the building with fondness, as noted by this quote in the 1918 Microcosm from the Class of 1917’s historian, William P. Burke:

“We feel proud to be classed among those who pursued an entire law course in the “old” law school.  When the next term opens, our successors will enter a fine, new, thoroughly equipped law school building.  But no newness of structure, no change of equipment, and no increase in physical attractiveness of any other building can obliterate the pleasant memories of our three years in the “old” law school.  Such memories are impressed to remain.”

Dickinson Law Alumni: Early Gatherings

by

The first meeting of the Alumni Association was held on the day Trickett Hall was dedicated, in 1918.  Justice John W. Kephart, Class of 1894, was elected President of the Association, a position he retained for many years.  Here is a look back at some other early gatherings of Dickinson Law alumni.

1923

At the meeting in 1923, “[a] proposal to change the annual reunion to one where papers dealing with legal problems would be read was sent to oblivion.”  Dickinson Alumnus, August 1923, p. 23.  A smoker was held the evening before the business meeting of the Alumni Association.  After the business meeting, the first copies of the alumni directory were presented.  The alumni agreed that the directories should be sold for $1.00 each.  A luncheon was then held, and the alumni gathered to play a baseball game, before ending the day with additional refreshments.

The meeting in 1924 was “one of the most representative and distinguished gatherings of law men ever seen in Carlisle.”  Dickinson Alumnus, August 1924, p. 21.  Keeping with tradition, a smoker was held the evening before the Alumni Association’s business meeting.  A hat was passed around and $75.00 was collected on behalf of the Law School.  After the meeting, an orchestra played while the alumni enjoyed a luncheon at the Hotel Carlisle.  The alumni then enjoyed an afternoon at Forest Hills with their families.

1925

“The annual smoker is about as distinctive an occasion as could be arranged.  It is a mixture of whatever comes into anyone’s mind and no very definite plans are ever made for it – other than to have an orchestra in the corner, punch on a center table with more in the cellar, plenty of smokes and Justice J. A. Kephart, of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, on hand to act as master of the ceremonies.”  Dickinson Alumnus, August 1925, p. 28.  The gathering of the alumni in 1925 was described as the largest and most successful one yet, with nearly 100 alumni in attendance.  After the Alumni Association’s business meeting, “alumni were taken in automobiles to the new Carlisle Country Club near Middlesex, where a luncheon was served, which was followed by a program of sports.”  Dickinson Alumnus, August 1925, p. 28.

1926

At the 1926 Association meeting, a plan was adopted to limit the membership of the Executive Committee of the Association to five members, to better plan for future reunions and work by the Association.  Highlights of the occasion were again a smoker, an orchestra, and a luncheon at the Carlisle Country Club.  The luncheon was followed by golf and “various contests staged by the reunion committee,” where “neck-ties and key-containers were presented as prizes.”  Dickinson Alumnus, August 1926, pp. 18-19.  The contests included a golf driving contest, a baseball throwing contest, and a trout fly casting contest.

1927

In 1927, for the first time, an attempt was made to hold individual class reunions, with at least one class, the Class of 1917, holding a class dinner before the Alumni Association program began.  At the business meeting of the Association, it was agreed that class reunions should be encouraged in the future.  The Association also approved the purchase of a framed portrait of Dean Trickett to be presented to the Law School.  The meeting was followed by a luncheon at the Carlisle Country Club.

Happy 100th Birthday Trickett Hall

by

The first classes of The Dickinson School of Law were taught in an office out of Judge John Reed’s home.  After the Law School became incorporated in 1890, the Law School’s home became Emory Hall, formerly Emory Chapel.  The Law School rented the building from Dickinson College. 

However, the Law School quickly outgrew this space, and in 1916, the Board of Incorporators appointed a committee to study the feasibility of building a new space for the Law School.  Horace B. King, from the class of 1910, threw himself into the fundraising effort, and space for the new building was located at the intersection of College Street and South Street.  R. R. Markley, from Harrisburg, was hired as the architect for the building, which he designed to fit in with the colonial-style architecture prevalent in Carlisle.1

The new building was named Trickett Hall, after Dean William Trickett.  The dedication was originally slated for August of 1917.  However, construction was delayed due to World War I.  The building was ready for occupancy in January of 1918 and the formal dedication ceremony was held on August 16, 1918.

Trickett Hall was open for inspection by the public the day before the ceremony, and a smoker was held that evening in the student lounge.  The event was a cheerful one with “singing of the old college songs and popular war songs…” and “old graduates told of humorous incidents of their student days and in their later practice.”2

On August 16, 1918, the entire building was decorated with the flags of the Allied Nations.  In the morning, the first meeting of the Association of the Alumni was held in the building’s new assembly room.

In the afternoon, the official dedication ceremony took place.  Speeches were given by Justice S. B. Sadler of the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas, Justice Edward J. Fox of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and Dr. George Edward Reed, former President of Dickinson College and the Dickinson School of Law.  As part of the ceremony, “a massive mahogany chair, the gift of the alumni of Berks County,” was presented to Dean Trickett, “as a token of their love and respect for him.”3  The Star-Spangled Banner was sung, and the alumni posed for a photograph on the steps of Trickett Hall.

This building, erected largely through the generosity of its young alumni, guarantees the future of the School.  The men who erected this structure will never allow the school to fail. 

…… 

Trickett Hall will never fail, never close its doors. 

Alumni and friends will see to that.  Long live Trickett Hall! 

Long live the noble body of loyal sons who by their generous giving have made possible the noble building which for a hundred years and more will continue to be the home of the Dickinson School of Law. 

~ Dr. George Edward Reed4

1 I highly recommend reading the architect’s incredible description of the building, which is included in Henry M. Bruner’s article, New Building at 21 Dick. L. Rev. 293 (1916).  The full-text of this article is available through our digital repository, Dickinson Law IDEAS.
2 Trickett Hall, 23 Dick. L. Rev. 1, 4 (1918).
3 Trickett Hall, 23 Dick. L. Rev. 1, 6 (1918).
4 For further information about the dedication ceremony, as well as the full text of the speeches given by Justice Sadler, Justice Fox and Dr. Reed, please check out our digital repository, Dickinson Law IDEAS.

Dickinson Law Joins The Association of American Law Schools (AALS)

by

The Dickinson School of Law applied, and was approved, for admission to The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) on August 12, 1912.  The AALS was founded in 1900, “to elevate the standards of legal education in an era when it was still possible to become a lawyer through apprenticeship or self-study.”

Upset over an inspection report from the AALS, Dean Trickett withdrew the law school’s membership in 1924.  The contents of this report are unknown, and it is unclear from historical records what upset Dean Trickett about the report.  Nonetheless, Dean Trickett’s letter, which remains in the Law School’s Archives collection,1 is another example of Dean Trickett’s love and high regard for the law school.  Below is an excerpt from Dean Trickett’s letter:

“This school is now in its thirty-fifth year.  Its alumni have in large measure, attained useful and conspicuous places at the bars of their respective states.  At the present time five judges of the Courts of Common Pleas of Pennsylvania are our graduates.  An impressive number of graduates have been district attorneys, and members of the legislatures.  We have the unique distinction of being the only law school of this state, which is represented on the highest court, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.  Of the seven members of that court, two are graduates of the Dickinson School of Law.”

“We have built up a library of over 6000 volumes.  The morale of our students is equal to that of the members of the best schools.  We could not deprecate a comparison of their diligence, intelligence, and capacity to acquire a lawyer’s qualifications, with those of the students of richer and older schools, whose prestige – of a shadowy property – may seem greater.”

Dean Trickett’s successor as dean, Walter Harrison Hitchler, reapplied for membership to the AALS.  This application was granted on December 27, 1934.  The Law School’s membership in AALS continues today.

1 The full text of Dean Trickett’s letter entire letter can also be found in former Dean Burton R. Laub’s book, The Dickinson School of Law : Proud and Independent.

William Trickett: Dickinson Law’s First Dean

by

This is the first in a series of articles about significant events and people in the history of The Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University, in celebration of the Law School’s 185th anniversary.

In the summer of 1833, Judge John Reed wrote to the Trustees of Dickinson College proposing the formation of a law school.  On April 1, 1834, classes began at the newly formed Dickinson School of Law.  Unfortunately, after Judge Reed’s passing, operations at the Law School were suspended.  Fast forward to 1890, when a group of gentlemen decided to resurrect the Law School.  This led to the incorporation of The Dickinson School of Law1 on February 19, 1890 and the appointment of William Trickett as Dean of the newly-reestablished Law School.

William Trickett was born in Leicester, England on June 9, 1840, and moved to Philadelphia with his family when he was a child.  He graduated from Philadelphia Central High School in 1857.  Upon graduation, he became a preacher, but he decided to return to school and graduated from Dickinson College in 1868.  Trickett decided to study law after he was fired from a teaching post at Dickinson College.  He was admitted to the Bar on August 26, 1875.  As a lawyer, Trickett was not very good at trial work due to his demeanor and self-consciousness, but his sharp mind earned him a reputation as a scholar.  During his lifetime, he wrote many books and treatises on a wide array of legal topics.

Trickett was appointed Dean of The Dickinson School of Law upon its incorporation in 1890.  Trickett was known as a stern teacher, who had no tolerance for tardiness in students.  Nonetheless, he became one of the most beloved deans and teachers of the Law School. His devotion to the Law School, in return, appears to be unquestionable.  When the Law School reopened in 1890, Dean Trickett supplied the library with books from his own personal collection.  He took pride in the Law School and in the students of the Law School, taking the time to personally know every student who entered the school.

Many letters and documents exist praising Dean Trickett, and many of the early Law School yearbooks contain dedications to him.  The class of 1903 presented Dean Trickett with a Loving Cup, which remains part of the Law School’s Archives collection.  Therefore, when the time came to dedicate the new Law School building, in 1918, there was no question that the building would be named Trickett Hall in Dean Trickett’s honor.  However, perhaps the highest honor for Dean Trickett occurred on his 85th birthday, when, after having served as Dean for thirty-five years, he received an honorary law degree from Dickinson Law.

Dean Trickett remained Dean of the Law School until his death, at eighty-eight years old, on August 1, 1928.  The 1929 edition of the Commentator, Dickinson Law’s yearbook, includes the following tribute to Dean Trickett, which perhaps best sums up his life and the feelings of those who knew him:

Giving absolutely everything of his mind, of his time, and even of his possessions, he has cheerfully and faithfully served the institution…

He has known every man by name from the inception of the school to the present graduating class and considers every man who has been under him a personal friend….

His untiring and unselfish work has had its effect on the development of our legal system, and by his kindness, his friendship, his service and example has profoundly influenced many hundreds of lawyers now practicing, who were in earlier days his students, and indirectly the people with whom they have come in contact.  William Trickett was not only a great teacher, but a great man.2

1 True or False:  The Dickinson School of Law was once part of Dickinson College.  Answer:  False.  While there was an agreement between Founder Judge Reed, and the law school’s subsequent incorporators, with Dickinson College for the use of its facilities, the law school was established, and operated, as an independent institution until its merger with Penn State in 1997.

2 For more information about Dean Trickett, and the history of the law school, I recommend reading former Dean Burton R. Laub’s book, The Dickinson School of Law-Proud and Independent.  Much of the information in this post was derived from Dean Laub’s book, as well as various resources found within the Law School Archives collection.

Skip to toolbar