Governor James Rhodes at Scio Pottery

Photograph showing Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes visiting with constituents at Scio Pottery in Scio, Ohio, October 1976. Scio Pottery Co. was a pottery manufacturer started in 1933 by Lewis P. Reese. The company at one point employed around 1,300 people--double the population of the small village of Scio at that time. The pottery closed in 1985 due to foreign competition. Rhodes was born on September 13, 1909, in Coalton, Ohio. He began his political career by winning election to the school board of Columbus, Ohio, in 1937, then serving as Columbus city auditor. In 1943, he was elected mayor of Columbus, an office he held from 1944 until 1952. Rhodes served as Ohio Auditor from 1952 until 1962, when he won election to his first term as Ohio governor. During his four terms as governor (1962-1970 and 1974-1982), Rhodes oversaw the building of airports, state office buildings, prisons, community colleges, museums and other public structures. He is also notable as the governor who ordered Ohio National Guard troops to Kent State University during a series of student protests against the Vietnam War. On May 4, 1970, the guardsmen fired into a crowd of protestors, killing four and injuring nine. Rhodes retired from politics following an unsuccessful run for a fifth term in 1986, and died March 4, 2001