Joseph Rhodes, Jr.

Joseph Rhodes, Jr.


Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 24th district
In office January 2, 1973 – November 19, 1980
Preceded by	Erroll B. Davis
Succeeded by	William W. Pendleton

Personal details
Born	August 14, 1947 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died	November 7, 2013(2013-11-07) (aged 66) Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Linda Rhodes (divorced)
Residence	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Alma mater	California Institute of Technology Harvard University

Joseph Rhodes, Jr. (August 14, 1947 – November 7, 2013) was an American politician and activist. From 1972–1980, he served four 2-year terms as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He was a commissioner of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission from 1988–1995. He served as a member of several public panels, including the President's Commission on Campus Unrest that investigated the fatal shootings of unarmed student protesters by soldiers and police in 1970 at Kent State and Jackson State Universities.

Rhodes' father was an African-American who served as a US soldier in the Philippines during World War II. Rhodes' mother, a woman of Filipino/Chinese descent, met his father there in 1945 and married him. The couple settled in Pittsburgh. Rhodes attended Pittsburgh public schools. From 1965-1969 Rhodes was an undergraduate at the California Institute of Technology, and he received a B.S. in history in 1969. Rhodes served two terms as the president of the student body. He was in residence at Harvard University from 1969–1972 as a junior fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows, where he researched racism in Victorian England. Rhodes then 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, and served as a staff researcher for the Ford Foundation 1969-1970.