Joseph R. and Anita C. Reichard Papers, 1940-1997 (span) | Oberlin College Archives

Joseph Ruch Reichard taught German at Oberlin for 44 1/2 years. When he retired in 1983, he was the last active faculty member to have taught at the college before World War II. His influence on the development of Oberlin's German program was considerable; he was also extensively involved with developments in the field as a whole through his work with numerous professional organizations.

Professor Reichard was born in 1913 in Galesburg, Illinois. While he was growing up, his family moved from Illinois to New Jersey to Ohio, then to Pennsylvania, because his father was a German professor. He received his bachelor's degree in German from Lafayette College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Valedictorian (1934), and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin (1936, 1941). He also attended the University of Frankfurt om Main, Germany, for two semesters (1934-1935). He taught at Oberlin College for one-half year as a temporary instructor (1938). After a year at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania, he returned to Oberlin, first as assistant, then as associate, and full professor. He was chair of the German department from 1975-1976 and 1980-1981. His summer teaching included the following: Tulane University (1947), The Ohio State University (twice in the mid 1950s), and University of Hawaii (1967). In addition to carrying a heavy teaching load, he served at various times as president of the Oberlin chapter of the American Association of University Professors, as Oberlin's Fulbright advisor, and as a member of the Honor System Committee.

During his time at Oberlin, Joseph Reichard was involved with a number of innovations and experiments designed to improve the teaching of German. These include the development of German House and of the German Studies Abroad Program, which he directed for many years. His most influential experimental work was probably his research into the possibilities of the language laboratory concept: the use of tape recorders and other devices to increase both the number of students that could be taught by one teacher and the quality of the resulting teaching. In the 1960s, his work in this area was supported by a grant from the U.S. Office of Health, Education and Welfare.

Active in the wider profession as well as the college community, Joseph Reichard served during the 1950s as secretary, vice president, and president of the Ohio chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German. He also directed the Association's teacher placement bureau (1958-1962), and served on the editorial board of its journal, The German Quarterly. He worked with the German Advanced Placement Program of the College Entrance Examination Board as chairman of its examining committee and as chief reader. Other organizations with which he was involved included the Modern Language Association, the Modern Language Section of the Ohio College Association, and the Modern Language Teacher Association. He co-authored two textbooks, Shorter College German (5th ed., 1981) and German Grammar Workbook (1956); he also wrote several articles for The German Quarterly. His other research interests include the works of Theodor Storm, Eduard Morike, and Paul Heyse, and the language and cultural heritage of the Pennsylvania Germans.

While at the University of Wisconsin, Joseph Reichard met Anita Cast, who was pursuing her M.A. in German. They were married in 1940. Anita Reichard (b. 1913, Madison, Wisconsin), whose father was also a German professor, had received her B.A. from Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin, and had also done graduate work at Stanford University, where she taught German and directed the German House. From 1960 to 1962, Anita Reichard served as lecturer in German at Oberlin; from 1964 to 1968, she worked in the college's administration first as assistant to the Dean of Women, then as Dean of Women.

In the spring of 1968, as Oberlin was participating in the changes and protests associated with the Vietnam War, a dispute arose over dormitory regulations. In May of that year when the dormitories were made coed, Anita Reichard resigned as Dean of Women, concluding that she could not support the new rules. She accepted a position as associate professor of German at Ashland College, in Ashland, Ohio, where she remained for eight years. Her professional memberships include the Association of Women's Deans and Counselors, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Sigma Iota; she has also been active in the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association, the League of Women Voters, the Girl Scouts, First Church, and American Association of University Women. For more than seven years, she was very active as a founder and board member of the Kendal at Oberlin Retirement Community.

The Reichards had two children, Kathryn Louise (b. 1943), and Joseph Ruch, Jr. (b. 1946. Joseph Reichard Sr. died on May 29, 2008, and Anita C. Reichard died on August 1, 2010, both in Oberlin.