William Hosler Rhoades, 1923
Ph.B., Denison University
M.A., Toledo University
LL.D., Virginia Union University
New York
Citation awarded on Saturday, June 7, 1958
William Rhoades is distinguished in his services to his church as a leading Baptist layman, to his country during World War II, and to African-American educational work among Baptists in the South.
Trained as a lawyer, Mr. Rhoades practiced law in Toledo, Ohio, until 1942, and then served in the Army Air Corps as a processor of lend-lease materials. He joined in the preparation of the audit report of the China-Burma-India theatre for which the Republic of China conferred upon him its highest military decoration for non-citizens. In 1947, he accepted the post of treasurer of the American Baptist Home Mission Society and directed the coordination of the fiscal procedures of the Society and the Woman’s American Baptist Home Mission Society prior to the integration of their program and organization. Elevated to the role of executive secretary of the Societies last year and on the board of four African-American colleges in the South for the past ten years, he is providing inspiration and guidance in the fields of home mission work and African-American education among Baptists today.
