James Berton "Bert" Rhoads (September 17, 1928 – April 7, 2015) served as fifth

Archivist of the United States The Archivist of the United States is the head and chief administrator of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) of the United States. The Archivist is responsible for the supervision and direction of the National Archives. The ...

. He was born in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

. Rhoads received his B.A., in 1950, and M.A., in 1952, from the University of California at Berkeley. He earned his Ph.D. in History from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1965.Nieuwsma, Alex (April 13, 2015).
Remembering James Berton 'Bert' Rhoads, Fifth Archivist of the United States (1968-1979)

log post Log most often refers to: * Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut ** Logging, cutting down trees for logs ** Firewood, logs used for fuel ** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs * Logarithm, in math ...

''Prologue''. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 2015-04-18. Rhoads joined the National Archives in 1952 and was named National Archivist of the United States in 1968.

Career

James B. Rhoads joined the National Archives in 1952 and held a number of positions before he was eventually promoted to Deputy Archivist in 1966, under

Robert H. Bahmer Robert Henry Bahmer (September 27, 1904 – March 14, 1990) served as Fourth Archivist of the United States from November 7, 1965 to March 9, 1968. Life and career Bahmer was born near Gardena, North Dakota. He earned his bachelor's degree from V ...

. He became Acting Archivist on March 10, 1968; and the General Services Administrator appointed him to be the fifth Archivist of the United States on May 2, 1968.James B. Rhoads, Fifth Archivist of the United States (Archivist: 1968-1979)
" National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 2015-04-18. Under Rhoads, ''

Prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

'' — the National Archives' quarterly publication — was founded, and the regional archives system was expanded. It was also during his tenure that Americans' rapidly developing interest in genealogical records brought a large influx of family history researchers to the National Archives for the first time. Rhoads encouraged the engagement of his fellow archivists in the

International Council on Archives The International Council on Archives (ICA; French: ''Conseil international des archives'') is an international non-governmental organization which exists to promote international cooperation for archives and archivists. It was set up in 1948, wi ...

. In 1972, he headed the United States delegation to the ICA-sponsored International Congress of Archivists held in Moscow. At that congress he was elected as one of two vice presidents, in which capacity he was responsible for the organization of the next congress, which was held in Washington, D.C., in 1976, concurrently with the annual meeting of the

Society of American Archivists The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual archivist and institutional members. Established in 1936, the organi ...

. Rhoads went on to serve as president of the ICA from 1976 to 1979. After leaving the National Archives in 1979, Rhoads taught at

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...

, before retiring. Rhoads was elected as a Distinguished Fellow of the Society of American Archivists in 1966; he served as the society's president from 1974 to 1975, and as a council member from 1970 to 1973. He also served as president of the Academy of Certified Archivists, from 1992 to 1994.

Personal life

Rhoads was married for 59 years to Sadie Angela (Handy) Rhoads.James Berton Rhoads (1928-2015): Obituary
(April 8, 2015). ''The Bellingham Herald''. Retrieved 2015-04-18. Angela, as she was known, died 8 January 2007 from Lewy Bodies Dementia. randdaughter/ref> They had three children – Cynthia, James, and Marcia. Rhoads died on April 7, 2015, in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

Footnotes

Works

* ''The Campaign of the Socialist Party in the Election of 1920.'' PhD dissertation. The American University, 1965.

External links

National Archives and Records Administration

Archivists of the United States, 1934-Present
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoads, James B. American archivists National Archives and Records Administration 1928 births 2015 deaths People from Sioux City, Iowa American University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Presidents of the Society of American Archivists Carter administration personnel Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel Nixon administration personnel Ford administration personnel