Dick the dog

Dick the dog, college mascot, 1898

When Dick, the College Mascot, was found dead in Dr. Morgan's front garden on Monday, January 19, 1903, there was, in the words of Dickinsonian correspondent Whitfield J. Bell, writing thirty years later, "genuine sadness on the campus, for the old dog was as much a part of the College as the Mermaid on Old West." (Dickinsonian, Jan. 19, 1933)

For years, the ubiquitous Great Dane had posed with sports teams in official photographs, enlivened dormitory life, and attended every chapel, where, by ostentatious yawning, he often "commented" on proceedings, to the delight of the student body. His story "after death" is every bit as interesting (follow the link below). At the time Whitfield Bell was writing, Dick's stuffed remains were still preserved in the Bosler Library "in the extreme northwest alcove, wearing his collar...."

Author of Post: 
Dickinson College Archives
Date of Post: 
2005