Reid Hall Times
Department of Journalism and Mass Communications
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, Virginia 24450
| O.W. Riegel, department head for 34 years, is
dead. October, 1997 |
 |
| Pat Hinely Photo |
O.W. Riegel, mentor to generations of journalism students, is dead at 94
Oscar Wetherhold "Tom" Riegel, 94, a world authority on propaganda and professor emeritus of journalism at Washington and Lee University, died Aug. 22 at Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Lexington, after suffering a minor stroke the previous day.
A native of Reading, Pa., Riegel attended Lawrence College and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1924 with an A.B. in journalism. He studied at the University of Paris in 1925-26 and received a master's in American literature from Columbia University in 1930.
Riegel's journalism career began at the Neenah, Wis., Daily News in 1918. He worked for the Reading Tribune (1924-25), the Paris bureau of the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News (1925-27), and the Lancaster, Pa., News Journal (1927) before taking a job as an instructor of English at Dartmouth College in 1927.
Riegel came to Washington and Lee as an assistant professor with the Lee Memorial Journalism Foundation in 1930. He was named director of the department of journalism and communications in 1934, a position he held for 34 years. He was promoted to associate professor in 1936 and professor in 1941. He was named professor emeritus when he retired in 1973.
Riegel's contributions to the study of journalism at Washington and Lee are legendary. He introduced the study of film into the curriculum in 1932 and established the university's radio station, WLUR-FM, in 1967.
"He awakened generations of students to the joys of the life of the mind," said Professor John Jennings, a former student of Riegel's.
"Tom Riegel was one of the giants of American journalism," said Tom Wolfe, a 1951 graduate of W&L. "His long life was an exemplary one for all who were fortunate enough to know him."
Charles McDowell, Washington political columnist for the Richmond Times Dispatch, said, "Tom Riegel was a great teacher of journalism, always connecting it to literature and government and human freedom. He also was an inspiring friend to my parents and to me."
"I am losing my last father," said Philippe Labro, vice president and director of programming of Radio Tele Lexembourg, France's largest radio network, also a W&L graduate. "He was a master of journalism, a free-thinking individual. He is the stuff W&L legends are made of."
Riegel made a name for himself in the field of propaganda
and public-opinion research with the 1934 publication of his
award-winning study, Mobilizing for Chaos: The Story of the
New Propaganda, which was reissued by Quadrangle/New York
Times in 1972.
From Riegel's students:
"A great teacher, an inspiring friend"
"I am losing my last father"
"One of the giants of American journalism."
Riegel took a leave of absence from Washington and Lee during World War II to become principal propaganda analyst in the Office of War Information. "Propaganda is like a schizophrenic woman, half saint and half slut, with whom you have lived so long in your village that you have become accustomed to her face and don't really look at her closely to see if she has changed, or if changes in your village have given her a different look," he noted in a 1980 address to the Society of Professional Journalists.
Over the years, Riegel accumulated a world-class collection of more than 2,500 political posters, including American and British posters from both World Wars; German posters of Hitler-era and post-World War II elections; propaganda posters from the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China; Western European anti-Communist posters; and U.S. political party posters. In 1992, a 15 card set culled from Riegel's World War II collection was produced by the trading card company Tuff Stuff.
Riegel's other published works include Crown of Glory: The Life of James J Strang, Moses of the Mormons (Yale, 1935). He contributed articles to countless publications over the years, including the New Republic, the Southern Review, Film Comment, and Public Opinion Quarterly, for which he was an associate editor from 1936 to 1944 and longtime advisory board member.
He was also a member of the National Press Club, Overseas Press Club, the Cosmos Club of Washington, the Society of Professional Journalists, Pi Delta Epsilon journalism fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Delta Theta social fraternity.
Survivors include his wife, Jane Cordelia Riegel, of Glasgow; five children, Kurt Riegel of Arlington, Va.; Cordelia Riegel Bingham of Crowthorne, England; Hunt Riegel of Novi, Mich.; Mark Riegel of Charlotte, N.C.; and Quentin Riegel of Bowie, Md.; 15 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
In accordance with Riegel's wishes, there was no funeral or memorial service. In lieu of flowers, the family reqested that donations be made to Glasgow First Aid or Washington and Lee University.
Kurt Riegel has created a memorial World Wide Web site, which can be found on the journalism department site at wlu.edu/~owr