Remembering James Berton “Bert” Rhoads, Fifth Archivist of the United States (1968-1979)

Today’s post comes from Alex Nieuwsma, an intern in the National Archives History Office in Washington, DC.

On April 7, 2015, former Archivist of the United States James “Bert” Rhoads passed away at the age of 86.

Rhoads joined the National Archives in 1952 as a microfilm operator, but soon headed down the professional track. In 1966 he was appointed Deputy Archivist under Dr. Robert Bahmer. He replaced Bahmer as Archivist of the United States on May 2, 1968, after having served as Acting Archivist for nearly two months.

Rhoads’s tenure as Archivist saw massive changes within the National Archives, many of which increased the accessibility of the National Archives and its holdings. He started the quarterly magazine Prologue, which saw its first issue published in Spring 1969. He also expanded the regional archives system to solve the two-fold problem of needing more records storage space and increasing the public’s access to records.

Though known as a shy man, Rhoads was an outspoken supporter of recordkeeping. He wrote extensively about the importance of saving records and the appropriate methods of records preservation, storage, and disposal. He was recognized for his hard work by the General Services Administration, the agency which previously oversaw the National Archives, with Meritorious and Distinguished Service awards in 1966, 1968, and 1979.

Rhoads retired from the National Archives in 1979. In 1984, he joined the faculty of Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, as a history professor and director of the Graduate Program in Archives and Records Management until 1994.

Since his retirement from Western Washington University, Rhoads had lived in Missouri to be closer to family.

Prologue Magazine remains the flagship publication of the National Archives.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from National Archives, Pieces of History. Published on the National Archives' Pieces of History blog and, as a work of the United States government, in the public domain; pictures credited elsewhere are left out.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.