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Celebrating Six Decades of Service

Marie Baker

Campus gathers to honor Marie Baker and her 61-year career

by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

The tools of the trade were very different when Executive Secretary Marie Baker first entered Dickinson’s typing pool at age 17. In the 61 years since, manual typewriters have given way to electric, then electric-memory typewriters, and the typewriter fell to the computer, in its ever-evolving forms. Ditto machines and mimeographs went the way of the dodo, thanks to copiers and faxes; dictaphones were squelched by handheld recorders and then smartphones; email superseded faxes, and on it goes.

Through the decades, Baker mastered them all. And she maintained a vital presence in Old West, where she worked for all but a few months of her service at Dickinson, supporting the deans of students, women, admissions and academics.

In 2005, Dickinson commemorated Baker's five decades of service with a plaque and bench in her honor; Wheel and Chain bestowed an honorary membership the following year. On Friday, Jan. 15, as Baker embarks on well-earned retirement, the campus community will gather to honor and thank this stalwart Dickinsonian and share some fond memories of her time on campus.

The celebration will be held Friday, Jan. 15 (HUB Social Hall, 2 p.m.). All are invited to attend.

Learn more about Baker's unique perspective on the last six decades at Dickinson in the Q&A below, originally published in Dickinson Magazine in 2008:

Back in the ’50s when you started work here, a lot of women worked only in the home. What brought you into the workplace and why did you stay?

It began with my business teacher in school saying, “There’s a position open at Dickinson. Why don’t you go apply for it?” So I came and talked with the personnel man at the time and had an interview. Within three weeks, I had a job at the college.

And you were still in high school.

I came right out of high school, and I’ve been here ever since except for a break when my husband was in the service, and we spent a year and a half in Washington state. But I’ve enjoyed my work, and that’s the reason why I’ve stayed.

You’ve had a long tenure here in Old West.

All but six months of my time at Dickinson has been spent in Old West. So this is my building. I’ve watched a lot of changes occur. I didn’t agree with all of them, but I had no say—not that that kept me from speaking my mind. This is my building, and I keep a watch on it. And ghosts, I’ve never seen any.

Who are some of the more memorable campus personalities you’ve known—faculty or otherwise?

Ben James is right up there in front. We have known each other ever since I started at Dickinson, and we remain friends today. He is one of the oldest alumni around and the oldest faculty and I’m the longest worker here, so we kind of have this sharing partnership. And David Brubaker. He was in theatre & dance, which was then called dramatic arts. I remember Rosie O’Donnell when she was student. We had a lot of fun with her, because she was a standup comedienne even when she was a student worker. There have been so many important people—[the author] Jorge Borges when he was here for a visit. Just to meet him and shake his hand was nice.

There have been some major changes that have occurred during your time at the college. Let’s talk first about technology.

Well, I began with a manual typewriter. I moved to the electric typewriter and then something called a memory typewriter, which you put in stops and you filled in codes and then you went on. Of course we worked with the mimeographs, the ditto machines, which were messy. We had dictating equipment. And then we got phones where you could have voicemail and transfer your calls and have conference calls. Now we have the computer. You learn each thing as it comes along, whether you like it or not. You have to learn how to un-jam equipment. You become a technician along with the technology. It makes a broader person, but it also can be frustrating if it happens at the wrong time.

So things have really speeded up.

But also they have fallen behind because a lot of times if you aren’t included in the circle of information you’re not aware of things. If you type it, and you file it, then it clicks up here [points to temple]. If things are sent by e-mail and you aren’t included, then you don’t even know what’s going on behind the scenes. Then you’re caught short, and people say, “What about?” and I say, “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”

Other changes: rules for students. When you started there were house mothers, right?

Yes, ma’am. They [students] had sign-out and sign-in times. They had curfews. They had to have permission to be out overnight. Two of our freshman women dorms were down on North Hanover Street, and having the freshman women walk from the campus back to their dorms at night was always a concern. We didn’t have security in those days.

One of the societal changes has been in student fashion. When you came here, how did the students dress?

Most times the girls dressed in nice dresses and sometimes bobby socks and sneakers or saddle shoes. Turn-around sweaters, turn-around collars. Boys usually dressed in jeans, shirts open at the collar, sometimes T-shirts. In those days, a lot of the fellows who smoked wore T-shirts and rolled the sleeve up and had their cigarette pack in their sleeve rather than in their pants pockets. Some of them had the pocket in the shirt. They would stuff them in there. Dress codes have changed considerably. Some years they move forward; some years they move backward.

You’re definitely distinctive on the campus. You wear your scarf, and we all know that’s Marie walking across campus. We see her in the distance.

Not only on the campus but in town. People will say, “I knew that was you; I saw your scarf.” I wear it because of head problems. I keep telling young children when they ask me, “Why do you wear that scarf?” I say, “To hold my brains in; otherwise, it seeps out my ears.” They look at me kind of startled. But, you know, there’s a reason for it and a purpose, and so it’s not that I’m trying to keep my hair under control.

We all know what to get you for a gift then, right? You’ve been the dean’s assistant for 35 years now and have known virtually all of the faculty during that time. You’re very much the go-to person when I have any questions about emeriti faculty or even the newest professors. How do you remember all of these things?

Well, association but also having dealt with things over the years, they just kind of stay in your mind. Sometimes when I’m asked a question it doesn’t pop right in, but I know where to go to find my answers. People will call and ask for information on faculty who may be deceased or wives thereof or husbands thereof. People ask me, “Do you remember where certain fraternities were?” And I may be one of the few people on campus that remembers where all the fraternities were located. What that means, I don’t know. But I was here at the time, and so I can associate with the campus.

Are you writing any of this down?

No, ma’am. When I go, it’s all going with me.

Oh my gosh, we need to record your brainwaves. You’ve had your finger on the pulse of the college administration for more than 50 years. How has it changed in the way it functions, for example, the relationship of the administration to the faculty?

I believe with the institution of the committee system there was the opportunity for administrators and faculty to serve on committees together and get a feel for thoughts, ideas—ways that things can work better. Then students were brought on board because they thought they should have a say in how things were controlled for them academically. And socially. I think the final decision passed along by the administration is good, but it’s also flexible so if you disagree you have the right to state your argument. In the early days, when I first came here, if the president said something, that was it; it was a rule. Now there’s more discussion. Being able to have that open conversation, open dialogue, has been very good.

How would you characterize the development of the college over the last several decades?

Well, we’ve certainly expanded not only in student body. I think it was like 875 students when I first came here and maybe 60-some faculty. And now we’re over 2,200 students and 212 full-time faculty. We have come quite far in our visibility to the public, and we have to thank a lot of people who go out, spread the word. I think we’ve done a marvelous job in attracting applications for Dickinson. And the diversity, the global education. When George Allan first came into the [dean’s] job and Jack Henderson was named the director of off-campus studies, we became more involved in our Bologna, Bremen, Norwich and Málaga programs. We became more visible to the world. People used to call and say, “Are you Fairleigh Dickinson?” “No, ma’am, we are Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.” It took a long time to get that monkey off our backs. We are recognized as Dickinson College. If I didn’t agree with what we were doing, and we’re doing it the way it should be done, I wouldn’t have stayed these number of years.

Last spring you were inducted as an honorary member of Wheel & Chain, the women’s leadership society. How did you feel about being selected for that honor?

It was a wonderful situation. That’s one time I took my scarf off—when I walked up to get my hat put on my head, and everybody kind of laughed, because seeing Marie without her scarf was out of the ordinary. But that was an accolade that I truly honor. I have received many nice gifts from the college at recognition time. And two years ago they did put a plaque on a bench honoring my 50 years of service. Those things are wonderful, and I cherish them.

If your presence could in some way be preserved here for all time, how would you like that to happen? A statue in the quad, a la Benjamin Rush, or a building named for you?

I don’t expect anything like that. I’m not a legend. I’m just a person who’s been here as a dedicated worker all these years. If people remember me just as someone who made a difference while I was here, that’s all I expect. You have to give money to have a building named after you. I don’t have that kind of money. The plaque on the bench is sufficient to me. I take great pride in that, and I asked an administrator, “When people sit on it, am I allowed to charge them rent?” He said, “If you can get away with it, go for it.” I don’t expect anything. I’ve just enjoyed it so much. It’s been such a variety of jobs and tasks here.

I guess that answers the question of why you’ve stuck with it for 52 years.

Meeting new people, seeing the changes, being a part of the changes, especially as we started off in technology. It’s just amazing but it’s part of life. Progress is good.

Any plans to retire?

Eventually. I keep saying when I can’t climb two flights of stairs or remember what I’m supposed to be doing, then I think it’s time for me to get out of here. I’ve been here through five presidents, seven deans. I’ve just enjoyed everything, and I think right now it’s time for me to get back to work.

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Published January 14, 2016

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