Alan March

From my earliest days, I have enjoyed telling stories.  My first written stories were short horror pieces, which have not been published.  Following the advice, "Write what you know," I began to write stories from my job as a cop, and my stories began to get published.  You can find anthologies featuring some of my stories can be found on the Fiction page of this site.

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The publication of Cincinnati Police Stations, a Brief Illustrated History is the culmination of years of study and research. I have been fortunate to work with some amazing people whose knowledge of the Cincinnati Police Department's history is encyclopedic.  Their generous gifts of time and knowledge are recognized in the acknowledgements of that book. 

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My latest work is a labor of love which has been ongoing for years: a full biography of my great-grandfather, Dr. Harry A. March, known in his day as "The Father of Professional Football."  Dr. March was involved in the early days of pro football and wrote its first history titled, Pro Football: Its Ups and Downs.  But "Hoddy," as the family knew him, was involved in so much more, including working as a newspaperman covering William McKinley's first presidential campaign, election as the Stark County Coroner, and even owning and managing several musical comedy troupes!  Harry's life is full of fascinating stories.

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As a police officer for more than 30 years, I had assignments as varied as criminal investigations, planning and research, communications and dispatch, and human resources.  My favorite assignment, and greatest source of stories, was uniform patrol on the street.  Some of  those stories inspired my anthology Cop Tales.

 

My interest in the history of the Cincinnati Police Department led me to join a great group of people who founded the Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Society.    Author Christine Mersch asked me to write the introduction to her book Cincinnati Police History,  which was extensively researched at the GCPHS museum.  As an instructor at Cincinnati's Police Academy, I taught police recruit classes and non-sworn employees the history of the Cincinnati Police Department, a class I've also shared with community groups.  

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In 2019, my experiences with the GCPHS led to my being hired as the History & Museum Consultant for the Delhi Historical Society.  In this part-time position I lead the organization in a variety of fields, including the proper handling, cataloging, preservation, and storage of collected items; adopting and applying standards for museum operations; historical research; creating and building exhibits; seeking and applying for grants; training and managing volunteers; and helping with other tasks to ensure the DHS accomplishes its mission to discover, preserve, and share the history of Delhi Township and its neighboring areas.  The Delhi Historical Society was founded in 1976 and will celebrate its golden anniversary in 2026.  A great website dedicated to introducing people to small, but effective museums praised the Delhi Historical Society in the spring of 2023. Here is a link to a subsequent short interview I had with them: Museums Through The Back Door.

 

My mother, Kate March, was a journalist who specialized in covering small communities.  Her forte was the police beat.  She didn't just report crime stories, she got the inside scoop from cops on the beat and in the station houses.  In the tumultuous summer of 1969, as the editor of the "Price Hill News," Kate covered the story of three small time thieves who murdered four women in Delhi Township.  Her book, 
No Witnesses-The Story of Robbery and Murder at the Cabinet Supreme Savings and Loan, co-authored by retired police chief Howard Makin, tells the in-depth and behind the scenes tale of the crimes.   After Kate died in 2007, Alan and his father published Kate's award-winning book.

 

My father, Harry V. March, was named for his grandfather, Dr. Harry A. March.  Following his passion and skills, Harry V., known through life as Pat, became an engineer.  Among his best-known works is Kenner's Easy Bake Oven.  Read the inside story of the invention of the Easy Bake Oven in my article published  in Ohio History Connection's magazine, ECHOES, here on page 46. 

 

My favorite authors include Michael Crichton, Nelson DeMille, David McCullough, Tom Clancy, and the grand master of police stories, Joseph Wambaugh.  My current interests in reading, however, are about the Founding Fathers of the USA.  Books I strongly recommend on this subject include: America Afire: Jefferson, Adams, and the First Contested Election, by Bernard Weisberger; First Principles, What America's Founders Learned From the Greeks and the Romans and How it Shaped Our Country, by Thomas Ricks; and 1776, by David McCullough.  My favorite book, the one that really got me reading about American history with a passion, is The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara.  Upon reading that book the first time, I felt as if Shaara had personally interviewed General Robert E. Lee, General James Longstreet, and Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Shaara's prose brought to life the men who fought at Gettysburg and why. I re-read, The Killer Angels, nearly every year to inspire my writing, my patriotism, and my sense of humanity.