Commentary: Print Media

From 2002 to 2005, Walch wrote occasional columns for the History News Service, a program that distributed history related columns to newspapers and print publications across the county. The following six columns touch on historical issues that have currency to the present day. All of these columns may be reprinted with attribution to the author and the History News Service.

“Now About that First Thanksgiving Dinner”
November 21, 2002
This column on the origins and myths about the first Thanksgiving Dinner was widely published in 2002 and republished in a variety of additional newspapers and print publications each year for the next fifteen years. http://origins.osu.edu/history-news/now-about-first-thanksgiving-dinner

“The Writing is Faded, The Message Lives On”
June 19, 2003
This column focuses on the restoration of the parchment document that is the Declaration of Independence and the fact that it remains a popular visitor attraction even though it is badly faded. As Walch notes, the message lives on. This column appeared in more than a dozen newspapers in 2003 and appears with some regularity to the present day.
http://origins.osu.edu/history-news/writing-faded-message-lives

“Cheney: Silent Partner to the Present”
January 22, 2004
Once widely disparaged, the vice-presidency evolved into a substantial office over a half century from the two terms of Richard Nixon to those of Dick Cheney. The column forecasts the powers that Cheney manifested in the Bush Administration and was characterized in the critically acclaimed film “Vice.”
http://origins.osu.edu/history-news/cheney-silent-partner-president

“Putting Ex-Presidents Back to Work"
March 27, 2005
Only a few individuals have the experience of being the leader of the free world and yet there is no formal way of capitalizing on this experience once these men have left the presidency. This column articulates former presidents have service their country after leaving the White House.
http://origins.osu.edu/history-news/putting-ex-presidents-back-work

“Give Roberts Some Breathing Room”
September 27, 2005
As a nominee for the Supreme Court in 2005, John Roberts was questioned closely on his religious values and his fealty to Catholic doctrine. This column addresses the historical questions of church and state and revisits to concerns that faithful Catholics would be more loyal to Church law over constitutional law.
http://origins.osu.edu/history-news/give-roberts-some-breathing-room

“We Could Use a Man Like Herbert Hoover Again”
October 12, 2005
Although his one term as president was controversial, there is no question that Herbert Hoover was a “master of emergencies.” As Secretary of Commerce in 1927, Hoover lead the federal government’s response to unprecedented flooding on the Mississippi River. This article forecasts why we need more effective emergency management in the era of climate change.
http://origins.osu.edu/history-news/we-could-use-man-herbert-hoover-again