Richard Wilson Reichard

Richard Wilson Reichard, who taught history at Cornell from 1960 to 1969, died May 1 in Chicago. He was 89.

Reichard taught at Washington College in Chestertown, Md., Cornell College, and later at Queens College in Charlotte, N.C. He moved to Chicago in 1976 and married Gloria Carrig, also a college professor. He held teaching positions at Loyola University, Governor’s State University, and the College of DuPage.

He grew up in Allentown, Penn., and enlisted in 1943 in the Army Air Corps while a student at Lafayette College. After leaving the service in 1945 he did graduate work in history at Harvard University, earning a Ph.D.

In 1959 he was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee where he refused to testify, citing his Fifth Amendment rights.

Reichard taught about the rise of the social working class in 19th century Germany, and wrote two books, “Crippled From Birth, German Social Democracy, 1844–1870” and “From Petition to the Strike, a History of Strikes in Germany from 1869–1914.”

He was active politically and supported organizations such as Amnesty International, Spanish Refugee Aid, and the Sierra Club, as well as the movement against the Vietnam War.

Reichard was preceded in death by his oldest son. He is survived by his wife and three sons, five step-children, and 14 grandchildren.