Kenneth G. Ryder - Early Life

Early Life

Kenneth (Ken) Ryder was born on April 30, 1924 in Brockton, MA to Russell Gilmore Ryder and Etta Carr Ryder. Russell Ryder (b. Sept. 2, 1892– d. Jan. 25, 1965) was a veteran of World War I, serving in the 312th Field Signal Battalion as a signal officer in France during the war. Russell had learned the telegraph trade from his father and uncles who were all telegraph officers. For many years, Russell was a payroll officer for the C.S. Pierce Shoe Company, in Brockton, MA. During World War II, Russell Ryder put his telegraph skills to work again and was employed by the Submarine Signal Company of Boston helping with the war effort. Russell married Etta Coffin Carr (Dec. 19, 1888 – May 11, 1986) on July 19, 1921. Etta grew up in Brockton, MA and graduated from Brockton High School in 1904. Etta and Russell had one child, Kenneth, in 1924.

Ken Ryder was a good student throughout his early years, excelling in history and public speaking. His public speaking ability was something that was honed as a part of the debate team and this was a skill that was admired throughout his lifetime. Ryder graduated from Brockton High School in 1940, giving the graduation address, and was named an Augustus Howe Buck Fellow, which included a full scholarship to Boston University. Ryder became the first in his family to attend college. (In later years his father received a law degree by correspondence, and Russell had hoped that Ken would go on to become a lawyer as well). Ryder once said, “My father thought law was the ideal profession, and it was there I set my sights. "

But without the scholarship, there would have been no college and that fact shaped Ryder’s view of higher education for the rest of his life. "My father had lost his job, and I was working after school and summers to help out. I wanted to go to Harvard or Boston University, but I'd pretty much given up the idea of college at all. It was a teacher who urged me to apply to BU and it accepted me. Still, that wouldn't have been possible without the award. The fellowship shaped my view about the importance of helping people – whatever their financial background – to get a college education so they can develop their potential. "

Ryder majored in History at Boston University and for the next six years, Ryder remained an August Buck Fellow, earning an A.B. from Boston University in 1946 and an M.A. from Harvard in 1947. His undergraduate studies took six years to complete because they were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.