Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum Offering Preview Of Documentary About Teetor

July 5, 2024 at 12:21 p.m.
Ralph Teetor and Jay Smith are pictured in the rear of Miss Detroit II. Photo provided.
Ralph Teetor and Jay Smith are pictured in the rear of Miss Detroit II. Photo provided.

By Staff Report

SYRACUSE - The Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum is offering an advance preview of “Blind Logic,” a new documentary about Ralph Teetor, a part-time resident of Syracuse and Lake Wawasee.  
The free showing will be at the historic Pickwick theater in Syracuse on Tuesday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m. with doors opening at 6 p.m. Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum will accept free-will donations, which will benefit the Museum.
Teetor and his family resided in Hagerstown, but first came to Syracuse in 1915. Seeking a more convenient place to keep their speedboat, it wasn’t long before his parents bought a cottage on Lake Wawasee, beginning more than a century of the family summering on the lake. His great-grandchildren still enjoy the property today.
Although blind from an early age, he preferred not to discuss his disability. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1912, and later a master’s degree in 1930. Teetor's highly developed sense of touch proved helpful in providing a technique for balancing steam turbine rotors used in Navy torpedo-boat destroyers during World War I.
The documentary follows the journey of Ralph Teetor from childhood blindness through his life to become an inventive, insightful leader and philanthropist. Teetor was a prolific inventor whose invention of cruise control is a standard feature in every automobile sold today, according to a provided news release. His life and relationships spanned the entire period of the development of the American automobile industry. He became president of Perfect Circle Piston Ring Corp. in Hagerstown, which was later sold to the Dana Corp.
The documentary will touch on his relationship with the leaders of industry during the early period of the auto industry, including Henry Ford, Fred Duesenberg, Eddie Rickenbacker and others. He was a regular fixture at the Indianapolis 500 where his skills were used by many.
In addition to featuring the Ralph Teetor family enjoying Lake Wawasee, the film credits include three of Dan Teetor’s grandsons who often visited the lake: Composer Jim Andron (former music director for The New Christy Minstrels), photo editor Daniel Teetor, and writer, director and producer Jack Teetor.
A preview/trailer of the film may be viewed at https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/929881992

SYRACUSE - The Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum is offering an advance preview of “Blind Logic,” a new documentary about Ralph Teetor, a part-time resident of Syracuse and Lake Wawasee.  
The free showing will be at the historic Pickwick theater in Syracuse on Tuesday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m. with doors opening at 6 p.m. Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum will accept free-will donations, which will benefit the Museum.
Teetor and his family resided in Hagerstown, but first came to Syracuse in 1915. Seeking a more convenient place to keep their speedboat, it wasn’t long before his parents bought a cottage on Lake Wawasee, beginning more than a century of the family summering on the lake. His great-grandchildren still enjoy the property today.
Although blind from an early age, he preferred not to discuss his disability. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1912, and later a master’s degree in 1930. Teetor's highly developed sense of touch proved helpful in providing a technique for balancing steam turbine rotors used in Navy torpedo-boat destroyers during World War I.
The documentary follows the journey of Ralph Teetor from childhood blindness through his life to become an inventive, insightful leader and philanthropist. Teetor was a prolific inventor whose invention of cruise control is a standard feature in every automobile sold today, according to a provided news release. His life and relationships spanned the entire period of the development of the American automobile industry. He became president of Perfect Circle Piston Ring Corp. in Hagerstown, which was later sold to the Dana Corp.
The documentary will touch on his relationship with the leaders of industry during the early period of the auto industry, including Henry Ford, Fred Duesenberg, Eddie Rickenbacker and others. He was a regular fixture at the Indianapolis 500 where his skills were used by many.
In addition to featuring the Ralph Teetor family enjoying Lake Wawasee, the film credits include three of Dan Teetor’s grandsons who often visited the lake: Composer Jim Andron (former music director for The New Christy Minstrels), photo editor Daniel Teetor, and writer, director and producer Jack Teetor.
A preview/trailer of the film may be viewed at https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/929881992

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