Reminiscences of Ralph Dickerson, Jr. : oral history, 2004.

Biographical Note

President Emeritus, United Way of New York.

Scope and Contents

Born in 1947, grew up in Illinois; background: mother teacher; education: University of Illinois; career: work for the Olin Corporation and McDonnell Douglas, United Way in various cities, former retired president of the United Way of New York City; United Way: human care organization, in business of raising and distributing money, bottom up/local organization, individual and corporate giving, discussion of fiscal and programmatic operations, beneficiary standards; September 11th: stopped cars, people in streets watching, reminiscence of daughter's death in 1994 U.S. Airway crash, calling family, work, television coverage; post-9/11: confusion, problems with utilities and communication, smell of smoke, sound of fire engines and police, dawning realization of catastrophic event, World Trade Center site work: distinct smell, overwhelming emotions, bearing witnessed, on-site cooperation; September 11th Fund: debating nature of fund, telethon, relationship with mayor and the Liberty Fund, relationship with American Broadcasting Company, coordinating respective organizations--and the financial, administrative, infrastructural and legal issues related to collaborative work, work with consultants, cash assistance, appropriation of funds, Red Cross, media coverage, criticism, work with Safe Horizon, inequity in distribution, ethical dilemmas around distribution, balancing short and long term needs, working together across agency lines, coordination and information retrieval, lessons learned from in-crisis collaborative work.

Subjects

• American Red Cross.
• Charities--United States--Management.
• Dickerson, Ralph, 1947--Interviews.
• Executives--Interviews.
• Farber, Myron, interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001--Personal narratives.
• September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001.
• September 11th Fund.
• United Way of New York City--Officials and employees--Interviews.

Access Conditions

Copyright by The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2006. Permission required to cite, quote, and reproduce. Contact repository for information.