Horace Emerson Rhoads Papers, 1886-1941, bulk 1910-1939

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Summary

Creators:
Rhoads, Horace Emerson.
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers of Southern California newspaperman Horace Emerson Rhoads (1883-1941) and his family, dating chiefly from 1910 to 1939. Most of the manuscripts concern The Los Angeles Record, The San Diego Sun, and The San Francisco Daily News from the early 1910s; the correspondence and ephemera also chiefly relates to the newspaper business. There are also diaries of Adaline Rhoads and Roscoe Maxwell Rhoads detailing the social life and customs of late-19th century Indiana and early-20th century Southern California.
Extent:
759 items in 10 boxes
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains 759 items including 92 manuscripts, 19 of which are oversize. Most of the manuscripts are documents regarding the advertising, circulation, and financial concerns of The Los Angeles Record,The San Diego Sun, and The San Francisco Daily News from the early 1910s. The other substantial manuscripts are diaries of Adaline Rhoads and Roscoe Maxwell Rhoads detailing the social life and customs of late-19th century Indiana and early-20th century Southern California. Adaline Rhoads wrote about her daily chores, the activities of her children and her travels, including a trip in 1892 to the Grand Army of the Republic, 26th National Encampment in Washington, D.C. Roscoe Maxwell Rhoads also details his attempts to mend his health through exercise, various diets, bathing in magnetic wells and two visits to the Battle Creek Sanitarium in the late 1890s. Roscoe Maxwell Rhoads also detailed the family’s journey from Anderson, Indiana to San Diego, California and their later move to La Jolla, California. The collection also contains a short story written by Roscoe Maxwell Rhoads set in Balboa Park. Other stories can be found at University of California, Los Angeles under the pseudonym “Roddney Radclif.”

The collection contains 102 pieces of correspondence arranged alphabetically by author, the majority of which are addressed to Horace Emerson Rhoads regarding the newspaper business. There are also a significant number of letters from Horace Emerson Rhoads regarding the newspaper business and the San Diego Athletic Club. There are letters concerning San Diego and California politics, including three letters regarding the purchase of an airplane for the governor of California. Rhoads received letters on the subject of honorary membership in the Los Angeles Record Newsboys’ Club. The collection also contains letters regarding participation in La Jolla events and politics. A very small amount of correspondence relates to family matters and there is one letter and one telegram concerning the financial situation of Roscoe Maxwell Rhoads’ dairy in 1916. The letter from Horace Emerson Rhoads to his aunt, Cora Binkley, contains a genealogy of his immediate family.

The ephemera consists of 565 pieces arranged alphabetically by subject and are mostly newspaper clippings. The bulk of the ephemera is related to the newspaper business, especially E.W. Scripps newspapers, and the career of Horace Emerson Rhoads. Many of the newspaper and magazine articles are about the careers of individual newspapermen, their philosophies concerning the business, or their deaths. The collection also has a large number of obituaries regarding local Southern Californians. There is a large amount of material regarding La Jolla, its politics, its businesses and its early relationship with San Diego. There are a few items related to the Rhoads family, including newspaper articles, obituaries, photographs, a scrapbook and a Golden Anniversary Book. The ephemera also includes a Price List of Indian Stone Implements for sale by J.R. Nissley of Ada, Ohio and three fliers pertaining to shells, fossils and books concerning collecting these items for sale by G.W. Michael, Jr. of Morro, San Luis Obispo Co., California. There are also two photograph albums, one of which has photographs of San Francisco after the earthquake and fire of 1906.

Subjects in the collection include: newspaper advertising in California; E.W. Scripps Company; Los Angeles Record; newsboys; newspaper editors in the United States; newspapers in California and the United States; newspaper circulation; 20th century history of newspapers; newspaper marketing; San Diego Sun; San Francisco Chronicle; San Francisco Daily News; William Hempstead Porterfield; James G. Scripps; John Diedrich Spreckels; Anderson, Ind.; Balboa Park in San Diego, Julian, La Jolla, Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Diego, San Francisco, Cal.; Arlington National Cemetery; Mount Vernon Estate; railroad travel in 1890-1910; Washington, D.C.; athletic clubs; Battle Creek Sanitarium; diet fads; history of health attitudes in the United States; magnetic wells; prescriptions; boxing in Reno, Nevada; Fourth of July celebrations in California; Grand Army of the Republic, 26th National Encampment, 1892 in Washington, D.C.; North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church; World War I; California and Indiana social life and customs; women’s rights; Epworth League, U.S.; Sabbath school teachers; Woman’s Relief Corps, U.S.; abortion law and legislation in California; politics and government of California; child labor law and legislation in California; child welfare in California; criminal law in California; divorce law and legislation in California; interracial marriage law and legislation; marriage law in California; politics and government of San Diego; catalogs and collections of fossils in the United States; collectors and collecting antiquities of Indians of North America; catalogs and collections of shells in the United States; gas wells in Indiana; and dairying in California.

Biographical / historical:

Horace Emerson Rhoads (1883-1941) or “Dusty” Rhoads, was the last of six children born to Abe and Adaline Rhoads. Their first three sons were born in Ohio: Jesse was born in 1871; Newton was born in 1872 and died in 1877; and Odis was born in 1874 and died in 1899. Abe’s father, Benneville Rhoads, moved to Anderson, Indiana, in 1870 and Abe followed with his family sometime between 1874 and 1877 when their first and only daughter Carrie was born. Abe and Adaline’s fourth son, Roscoe, was born in 1880. Horace was born in Anderson, Indiana, on January 22, 1883.

Horace started working for the Anderson Daily Bulletin as a newsboy when he was 6 years old. By the time he was 16, Horace had been promoted to circulation manager. He graduated high school in 1900 and kept his job at the Bulletin. Meanwhile, his brother Roscoe had been thinking of moving for health reasons and the family decided to tour California to see if it was a healthy climate. In October Abe, Adaline, Roscoe and Horace traveled to California and during their vacation, they decided to live in San Diego for at least a year. There, Horace and his father fished, while Adaline and Roscoe recovered from ill health.

After a few months of fishing, Horace was employed as a solicitor for the San Diego Sun. When their lease in San Diego was up, Roscoe found a house in La Jolla and the family moved there in late 1902. It is unclear how Horace got the job, but in 1904 he had an office in the Hartfield Building in Chicago, handling national advertising for a string of E.W. Scripps Pacific Coast newspapers. He then went to Sacramento with W.H. Porterfield to found the Sacramento Star. Horace was elected vice-president and business manager of the San Diego Sun in 1908 and was given the job of general manager for the Los Angeles Record and the San Diego Sun in 1910. Soon after, he became the general manager of the San Francisco Daily News. Horace believed that the newsboys he employed held great potential for the future and he organized the Los Angeles Newsboy Club during his tenure in Los Angeles.

Horace sold out his shares in the E.W. Scripps newspapers and devoted his time to more local pursuits in the early 1920s. He was on the Executive Council of the La Jolla Civic League in charge of public utilities and was involved in the fight for the Camp Kearney Road and other city improvements. Other local activities included being a member of the Greater La Jolla Celebration Committee in 1924. Horace served on the founding board of directors of the First National bank of La Jolla in 1928. Many of the same men started the La Jolla Guarantee Building-Loan Association a year later of which, Horace was the vice-president. He successfully reinvigorated the dying San Diego Athletic Club during the 1930s, which he helped found in 1924. He also stayed active in San Diego politics, supporting local and state Republican candidates. Horace may have retired, but he continued his active lifestyle until his death in 1941.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from P. L. Pfaff, March 25, 1960.
Arrangement:

Arranged in the following order:

  • Manuscripts and Documents (Boxes 1-4)
  • Correspondence (Boxes 5-6)
  • Ephemera; Photographs (Boxes 7-9)
  • Overisze (Box 10)

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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