Manuscript Group 407
JOSEPH RHODES JR. PAPERS
1970-1980 [bulk 1973-1980]
31 cubic feet
State House Representative Joseph Rhodes, Jr. was born in 1947 in Pittsburgh where he attended Pittsburgh public schools. He received a B.S. in history from the California Institute of Technology in 1969 and attended Harvard University as a Junior Fellow in Intellectual History, 1969-1972. After completing work at Harvard, Rhodes held a number of teaching positions at the University of Massachusetts, California State College and the University of Pittsburgh. He was also employed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1967, was involved with the Caltech Student Research Project in 1968, served as a staff researcher for the Ford Foundation 1969-1970, and was a consultant to the University of Massachusetts in 1973.
After 1968 Rhodes served on a number of national commissions studying such diverse subjects as the causes of campus unrest and the need for new structures in higher education. He was a consultant to the Office of the Secretary, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1968-1971; member of the MESPU Panel in the Office of Education 1969-1970; consultant to the White House Counsel to President Nixon, 1969-1970; member of President Nixon's Commission on Campus Unrest, 1970; and a member of President Nixon's Committee on Voluntary Service, 1969. He also served on the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Secretary's Committee on New Structures in Higher Education (The Newman Committee), 1969-1972, and the Advisory Panel of the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1971.
Rhodes was elected to the State House of Representatives, 24th Legislative District (Allegheny County), in 1972, and was reelected to the House for three successive terms. He held important positions on the Finance, Judiciary, and Education Committees, including Chairman of the Judiciary Sub-Committee on Crime and Correction and Chairman of the House Investigating Sub-Committee on Lottery and Statewide Gambling. In addition, he was a member of the Governor's Justice Commission and Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
Rhodes was the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including his election
as one ofthe three outstanding young men of Pennsylvania in 1975 by the Pennsylvania
Junior Chamber of Commerce. He was cited by Time Magazine as one of 200
new leaders in America and received the Americans for Democratic Action National
Youth Award in 1971. Other awards and recognitions include: Extraordinary Service
Award, Associated Students of Caltech, 1969; Heinrich Memorial Award, Caltech
1969; Three Honor Keys,Caltech 1966-69; and from the Pittsburgh radio station,
WAMO, he was recipient of the "He's A Black Man" Award, 1972.
General Correspondence, 1973-1980. (5 cartons) {#407m.2}
Governor's Justice Commission and Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency
Records, 1974-1980. (4 cartons) {#407m.3}
Miscellaneous, 1973-1980. (1 carton) {#407m.4}
Public Hearing Transcripts, 1971-1978. (3 cartons) {#407m.5}
Publications, 1970-1980. (1 carton) {#407m.6}
[RESTRICTED] Records Relating to the
Investigation of Organized Crime, 1977-1979. (2 cartons) {#407m.7}
[RESTRICTED] Records Relating to the
Investigation of the Lottery and Statewide Gambling, 1971-1978. (2 cartons)
{#407m.8}
[RESTRICTED] Records Relating to the
Sub-Committee on Crime and Corrections and the Judiciary Committee of the
House of Representative, 1973-1979.(2 cartons) {#407m.9}
Subject File, 1973-1980. (10 cartons) {#407m.10}
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