* __NOTOC__
Peter Christopher Rhodes (1909–1965) was an American
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and writer who worked for the
United Press
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
news service and for the United States
Office of War Information
The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...
.
Personal life
Family
Rhodes was born on September 18, 1909,
[Social Security Death Index]
/ref> the son of Christof Beutinger of Germany and Margaret Claire Abrahams of Jamaica, British West Indies.[George Garrigues, ''The Battered Wife and Her Five Little Kids All Dressed in White,'' City Desk Publishing, 2016]
/ref> He had four siblings, Frederick, William, Margaret, and Marie. On July 12, 1916, their father was shot and killed by his wife in their Caldwell, New Jersey
Caldwell is a borough located in northwestern Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City and north-west of Newark, the state's most populous city. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population ...
, home. The wife was tried for murder, pleaded self-defense, and was found innocent.
Marriage
Rhodes was married to Ione Boulenger, a teacher, in Brussels, Belgium
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, in 1936. Selective Service records showed that Rhodes claimed as dependents daughters Ann Margaret and Alice and a son, David.[ They lived in ]Knickerbocker Village
Knickerbocker Village Limited is a housing development situated between the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge, in the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Although the location was generally considered to f ...
, New York City, in 1941–43, and around 1946 they moved to Amenia, Dutchess County, New York.
Boulenger was general secretary of the Office International pour l'Enfance in 1938.
Death
Rhodes died in Monroe County, Florida
Monroe County is a county in the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 82,874. Its county seat is Key West. Monroe County includes the islands of the Florida Keys and comprises the Key West Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...
, in September 1965.
Education
Rhodes attended Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
between 1929 and 1933, when he received a bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
. He received a master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. there in June 1934. He was rated as a "very good student, of excellent character and reputation." He then received a Kellett Fellowship
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhattan ...
of $2,000 at Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, where he had an excellent record.
[Federal Bureau of Investigation, ''Julius Rosenberg et al., Silvermaster,'' FBI File No. 65-56402]
/ref>["Newspaperman One of Speakers for C of C Dinner," ''The Morning Call,'' Allentown, Pennsylvania, February 18, 1941, page 5]
/ref>
Professional career
In late 1936 Rhodes worked for the New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
in Paris,[ and then he was employed in that city by ]United Press
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
.[ He covered the early stages of the ]German invasion of France
France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans.
* the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...
in 1940.
He also worked in London, Copenhagen and Stockholm. He was in Narvik
( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ball ...
, Norway, "when the first German destroyers steamed into the harbor and he reported exclusively the part played by the Norwegian commander in delivering the port to the Germans." Rhodes wrote a story for United Press recounting his 1940 travel across the Soviet Union on his way to Tokyo, Japan, where he was able to file a report. In August he worked in New York on the cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
desk.[
While awaiting reassignment, Rhodes spoke at a joint meeting of the Cincinnati Lodge of Elks and the Cincinnati Newspaperman's Club in September 1940. On October 24, 1940, Rhodes was guest speaker along with Publisher ]David Stern
David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of ...
of the ''Camden Courier-Post'' at a meeting of the Camden Foremen's Club.
In 1941 he was assigned to the French island of Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...
, where he investigated reports about "a mountain of French gold" worth almost a billion dollars.
Upon his return to the United States, Rhodes was a speaker on February 28, 1941, at the Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...
, Chamber of Commerce, along with Governor Arthur James, where Rhodes said he disliked being called a ''journalist'' but would rather be referred to as a ''newspaperman.''[
Rhodes was next sent to England, where he covered the ]blitz
Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to:
Military uses
*Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign
*The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War
*, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
.[
Rhodes worked for ]United China Relief Bettis Alston Garside 葛思德 (November 22, 1894 – August 1, 1989), better known as B.A. Garside, was an educator, author, and executive administrator for several U.S. charities related to China.
Early life
B.A. Garside was born in Stringtown ...
and the Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
in 1941, the Selective Service records showed.[
In 1941, he was also chief of the Atlantic News Service of the ]Office of War Information
The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...
, the U.S. State Department reported.[ Postwar he was with the OWI recruiting personnel "for operations in psychological warfare," where he trained workers "for newly liberated areas."][ He was described as "head of monitoring for Psychological Warfare Branch AFHQ ir Force Headquartersand later in a similar capacity with the ETO (]European Theater of Operations, United States Army
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater (warfare), Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It comman ...
) during the war."["Friends Respond With Lumber From Queer Places," ''The Berkshire Evening Eagle,'' June 1, 1946, page 5]
/ref>
An article by Rhodes about French poet Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He wa ...
was published in ''Aragon: Poet of the French Resistance,'' edited by Hannah Josephson
Hannah Josephson, née Geffen (June 6, 1900 – October 29, 1976), was an American historian of the United States as well as a journalist and librarian.
Life and work
Hannah Josephson was born in New York City, on June 6, 1900. She studied at H ...
and Malcolm Cowley
Malcolm Cowley (August 24, 1898 – March 27, 1989) was an American writer, editor, historian, poet, and literary critic. His best known works include his first book of poetry, ''Blue Juniata'' (1929), his lyrical memoir, ''Exile's Return ...
in 1945. In 1946 Rinehart & Co. published his translation from the French of ''The Beast of the Haitian Hills'' by Philippe Thoby-Marcelin and Pierre Marcelin. His book ''Beautify Your Home Grounds,'' about property improvement, was published in 1952.
Political position
On February 6, 1942, U.S. Representative Richard B. Wigglesworth
Richard Bowditch "Dick" Wigglesworth (April 25, 1891 – October 22, 1960) was an American football player and coach and United States Representative from Massachusetts. He was born in Boston. He graduated from Milton Academy in 1908.
He attend ...
, Republican of Massachusetts, included Rhodes in a list of names he read on the floor of the House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
which he said had been furnished to him by the " Dies">artinDies Committee" (the House Committee on Un-American Activities
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
) stating that Rhodes, listed as a "foreign editor," had been a delegate of the International Coordinating Committee for Aid to Republican Spain.
In June 1949, FBI informant Elizabeth Bentley
Elizabeth Terrill Bentley (January 1, 1908 – December 3, 1963) was an American spy and member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). She served the Soviet Union from 1938 to 1945 until she defected from the Communist Party and Soviet intelligenc ...
included Rhodes, who was identified as a "broadcaster for the army in Africa and Sicily," in a list of names she furnished to the House Committee on Un-American Activities
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
. She stated they were those of federal employees who had been "involved in giving information to the Soviet government."
John Lautner, a former Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
, official, told a subcommittee of the Senate Internal Security Committee
The United States Senate's Special Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, 1951–77, known more commonly as the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS) and sometimes the M ...
in October 1952 that Rhodes, a "former Communist," had been "in charge of intelligence for the Military Government in the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
."
Winston Burdett
Winston Burdett (December 12, 1913 – May 19, 1993) was an American broadcast journalist and correspondent for the CBS Radio Network during World War II and later for CBS television news. During the war he became a member of Edward R. Mur ...
, a broadcast journalist, testified at a hearing of the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee
The United States Senate's Special Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, 1951–77, known more commonly as the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS) and sometimes the M ...
on June 28, 1955, that he "surmised" that Rhodes was a "very active Communist sympathizer and partisan of Communist causes." He said, "I did not know Peter Rhodes to be a member of the Communist Party." Burdett said he formed his impression from "my acquaintance with him and particularly his activities."United Press, "Reporter," ''Alexandria (Louisiana) Town Talk,'' June 30, 1955, page 8
/ref>
References
External links
Phi Kappa Psi, Class of 1933, Columbia College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Peter
1909 births
1966 deaths
American male journalists
People of the United States Office of War Information
Columbia College (New York) alumni