William E. Ritter

Dr. Mary Bennet Ritter First Lady of Scripps

A child of the California gold rush, Mary Elizabeth Bennett was a teacher, physician, women's rights advocate, and wife of Scripps's first director, William E. Ritter. The couple's life together began with a honeymoon in San Diego where the new husband planned to conduct research for his doctoral thesis. This trip may have influenced Ritter's work and his choice of San Diego for the marine biological station that he established two decades later. Certainly, the newlyweds must have made quite an impression upon San Diego society. In one memorable incident, Ritter and his bride hopped into a sailboat, and the young professor took the helm, capsizing the boat in the bay. No sooner were the newlyweds assisted by the crew of a dredge operating nearby than Ritter was examining the dredgings in search of interesting animals; this even before his very sporting bride had been hauled out of the water. The willingness of Mrs. Ritter--Dr. Mary Elizabeth Bennett--to spend her honeymoon collecting fish attests to her lifelong dedication to her partner's work. In her words, "If my almost pioneer days as a woman physician form a background to the great advance of modern medicine, and if the pioneering of my life-comrade in his biological undertakings is a stimulus to others, I shall be content."

Fred Baker Invaluable Supporter

Fred Baker, a prominent San Diego physician and noted shell collector, had an affinity for biology that drew him at once to William E. Ritter. Baker's wife--also a physician--was equally impressed with fellow doctor Mary Bennett Ritter. The 1891 meeting between the two couples, during the Ritters' honeymoon, proved a fortuitous one--both for building friendships and for establishing an institution. In the years that followed, the Bakers and the Ritters remained close. Eventually "Dr. Fred," as Baker was known, persuaded Ritter to locate his laboratory in San Diego. Rallying generous support for his friend, Baker proved an invaluable catalyst in the founding of Scripps.

Irving Gill Architect of an Institution

The original Scripps campus consisted of one building, completed in 1910, in which laboratories, classrooms, a library, and the director's residence were housed. It was designed by Irving Gill, whose vision as an architect matched Ritter's as a scientist. Gill's plan included an ingenious system of skylights and glass-brick-embedded floors that allowed natural light to penetrate the entire structure. These features, combined with numerous large windows, met Ritter's exacting specifications for a laboratory in which microscopes and aquaria would receive ample natural illumination. Dedicated as the George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory, in honor of the brother of E. W. and Ellen Scripps, the building is a national historic landmark and the oldest oceanographic laboratory building in the United States. The Old Scripps Building, as it is affectionately known, currently houses the offices of the Scripps Graduate Department.

Email the author: Joe Hlebica