Saturday, August 23, 1997
O.W. Riegel, 94, dies; was W&L professor, propaganda expert
BY JENIFER V. BUCKMAN
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
Oscar Wetherhold "Tom" Riegel, professor emeritus at Washington and Lee University and an expert on political propaganda, died Friday at Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Lexington of complications from a stroke. He was 94 and a Glasgow resident.
A W&L journalism professor for 43 years, Mr. Riegel was named director of the department of journalism and communications in 1934.
That year, his work "Mobilizing for Chaos: The Study of the New Propaganda," garnered worldwide attention. It was named one of the 50 most important books of 1934 by the magazine The Nation and earned him the 1935 Sigma Delta Chi Research Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.
During World War II, Mr. Riegel took a leave of absence from W&L to become principal propaganda analyst in the Office of War Information.
At W&L, he introduced film studies into the journalism and communications curriculum soon after his arrival and in 1967 established the university's radio station, WLUR-FM. He retired in 1973.
Charles McDowell, Washington columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and a student of Riegel's, said he made journalism and writing seem adventuresome. "He was a true expert on the fine points of the culture of the press. He taught us to write like writers, that journalism was not a third-rate language."
Mr. Riegel was inducted into The Virginia Communications Hall of Fame at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1988.
George T. Crutchfield, former director of the School of Mass Communications at VCU, said Mr. Riegel was an early, unanimous choice for induction. "He was truly one of the great teachers of journalism," Crutchfield said. "Part of W&L's superior reputation in the field is based on the quality of his teaching."
Mr. Riegel began his journalism career at the Neenah (Wis.) Daily News and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin.
Then, while studying at the University of Paris, he worked in the Paris bureau of the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News. After a short stay as a Dartmouth College English instructor in 1927, he entered Columbia University and earned a master's degree in 1930.
He was a member of several journalism societies and honorary fraternities including the National Press Club, Sigma Delta Chi, Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa.
Survivors include his wife, Jane Cordelia Riegel, four sons, Kurt Riegel of Arlington; Hunt Riegel of Novi, Mich.; Mark Riegel of Charlotte, N.C.; Quentin Riegel of Bowie, Md.; and a daughter, Cordelia Riegel Bingham of Crowthorne, England.
There will be no public funeral or memorial service. The family suggests memorial contributions to Glasgow Rescue and First Aid Squad, P.O. Box 421, Glasgow, Va. 24555, or Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., 24450-0303.
© 1997, Richmond Newspapers Inc.