Silas Rhodes
Encyclopedia
Silas H. Rhodes was an American
educator and co-founder of a trade school for illustrator
s and cartoonist
s that eventually became the School of Visual Arts
, one of the premiere U.S. colleges for art and design.
, New York City
. His mother ran a failed wholesale
egg business and his father worked for the U.S. Post Office
as a postal clerk. Rhodes employed both of his parents in the administrative departments of the School of Visual Arts later in his life.
Rhodes received his bachelor's degree from Long Island University
. He continued his education and obtained a master's degree and a doctorate from Columbia University
. Rhodes wrote his dissertation on poet Robert Burns
. He originally intended to become an English teacher, not a cartoonist.
Rhodes enlisted in the U.S. Army
following the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor
in 1941. He flew several missions with the Army's 1st Air Commando Group
in China
, Burma and India
. Rhodes obtained a job with the Veterans Administration
after World War II
. Rhdoes, along with fellow vet and illustrator Burne Hogarth
, persuaded the VA to create an art school specifically to help veterans returning from the war. The school came to be known as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School.
Tarzan and the Apes) founded the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in 1947. Most of the school's initial students were World War II veterans who worked during the day and enrolled in night courses. Many of his students had goals of breaking into advertising
or publishing
. The school was largely financed by the G.I. Bill and started with three faculty, including Rhodes, and 35 students. Rhodes helped to craft a curriculum
that emphasized a liberal arts
education with humanities courses, as well as the traditional studio arts classes.
Rhodes and Hogarth changed the name of the trade school to the School of Visual Arts
in 1955.
subcommittee investigation of suspected Communists
. The Senate subcommittee was specifically trying to investigate whether Communist ideology had infiltrated vocational school
s which were financed by the federal government, such as the School of Visual Arts.
Rhodes and Hogarth were asked whether they were members of the Communist Party
. Both stated to the Senate that they had not been members of the Communist Party since the founding of the school in 1947. However, they invoked the Fifth Amendment
when asked about Communist involvement prior to the founding of the school. Senator Joseph McCarthy
stated that their refusal to testify proved that both were Communists.
Rhodes was quoted as saying to McCarthy, "I'll match my record against yours any day in the service. That's a horrible thing to say." McCarthy responded to Rhodes saying, "I don't doubt a bit you are a full-fledged Communist."
Silas Rhodes' son, David, later told The New York Times
that his father had been a member of the Communist Party, but left in 1936, well before his military service in World War II or the founding of the school. The Veterans Administration audited the School of Visual Arts as part of their investigation. The government and the school later settled their grievances.
of the School of Visual Arts for six years. Rhodes guided the school's growth. Under his presidency, the School of Visual Arts became the largest independently run college of art
in the country, with nearly 2,700 students, well up from its original 35 students. The school currently enrolls more than 3,300 undergrad and graduate students as of 2007. Rhodes successfully persuaded the New York State Board of Regents
to allow the school to confer a bachelor's degree in fine arts in the 1970s.
He also worked as a humanities teacher, reflecting his past education at L.I.U. and Columbia University.
Rhodes served as the creative director for one of the signature public projects
of the School of Visual Arts. He helped advise and create posters designed by the school's faculty which have been displayed on the New York subway system for over 50 years. The posters are used to recruit potential students and to promote the School of Visual Arts.
Rhodes remained active at the school as the chaiman of the board of directors up until his death in 2007.
. He had spent the entire day working in his office.
Rhodes' wife, Beatrice, died in 2002. They had four children, David, Andrew, Steven and Anthony. However, he was survived by only three sons, David, Steven and Anthony and six grandchildren. David Rhodes currently serves as president of the School of Visual Arts.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
educator and co-founder of a trade school for illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
s and cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
s that eventually became the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
, one of the premiere U.S. colleges for art and design.
Early life
Rhodes was born and raised in the BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His mother ran a failed wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
egg business and his father worked for the U.S. Post Office
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
as a postal clerk. Rhodes employed both of his parents in the administrative departments of the School of Visual Arts later in his life.
Rhodes received his bachelor's degree from Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
. He continued his education and obtained a master's degree and a doctorate from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Rhodes wrote his dissertation on poet Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
. He originally intended to become an English teacher, not a cartoonist.
Rhodes enlisted in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
following the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
in 1941. He flew several missions with the Army's 1st Air Commando Group
1st Air Commando Group
The 1st Air Commando Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Army Service Forces, based at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. It was inactivated on 3 November 1945....
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Burma and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Rhodes obtained a job with the Veterans Administration
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Rhdoes, along with fellow vet and illustrator Burne Hogarth
Burne Hogarth
Burne Hogarth was an American cartoonist, illustrator, educator, author and theoretician, best known for his pioneering work on the Tarzan newspaper comic strip and his series of anatomy books.-Biography:...
, persuaded the VA to create an art school specifically to help veterans returning from the war. The school came to be known as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School.
Founding of the School of Visual Arts
Rhodes and Hogarth (best known for the comic stripComic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Tarzan and the Apes) founded the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in 1947. Most of the school's initial students were World War II veterans who worked during the day and enrolled in night courses. Many of his students had goals of breaking into advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
or publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
. The school was largely financed by the G.I. Bill and started with three faculty, including Rhodes, and 35 students. Rhodes helped to craft a curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
that emphasized a liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
education with humanities courses, as well as the traditional studio arts classes.
Rhodes and Hogarth changed the name of the trade school to the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
in 1955.
McCarthy era
Both Rhodes and Hogarth were summoned to Washington D.C. in 1956 as part of a United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
subcommittee investigation of suspected Communists
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. The Senate subcommittee was specifically trying to investigate whether Communist ideology had infiltrated vocational school
Vocational school
A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...
s which were financed by the federal government, such as the School of Visual Arts.
Rhodes and Hogarth were asked whether they were members of the Communist Party
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
. Both stated to the Senate that they had not been members of the Communist Party since the founding of the school in 1947. However, they invoked the Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
when asked about Communist involvement prior to the founding of the school. Senator Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
stated that their refusal to testify proved that both were Communists.
Rhodes was quoted as saying to McCarthy, "I'll match my record against yours any day in the service. That's a horrible thing to say." McCarthy responded to Rhodes saying, "I don't doubt a bit you are a full-fledged Communist."
Silas Rhodes' son, David, later told The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
that his father had been a member of the Communist Party, but left in 1936, well before his military service in World War II or the founding of the school. The Veterans Administration audited the School of Visual Arts as part of their investigation. The government and the school later settled their grievances.
Career at the School of Visual Arts
Rhodes served as presidentPresident
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the School of Visual Arts for six years. Rhodes guided the school's growth. Under his presidency, the School of Visual Arts became the largest independently run college of art
Art school
Art school is a general term for any educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. The term applies to institutions with elementary, secondary, post-secondary or undergraduate, or graduate or...
in the country, with nearly 2,700 students, well up from its original 35 students. The school currently enrolls more than 3,300 undergrad and graduate students as of 2007. Rhodes successfully persuaded the New York State Board of Regents
University of the State of New York
The University of the State of New York is the State of New York's governmental umbrella organization responsible for most institutions and people in any way connected with formal educational functions, public and private, in New York State...
to allow the school to confer a bachelor's degree in fine arts in the 1970s.
He also worked as a humanities teacher, reflecting his past education at L.I.U. and Columbia University.
Rhodes served as the creative director for one of the signature public projects
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
of the School of Visual Arts. He helped advise and create posters designed by the school's faculty which have been displayed on the New York subway system for over 50 years. The posters are used to recruit potential students and to promote the School of Visual Arts.
Rhodes remained active at the school as the chaiman of the board of directors up until his death in 2007.
Death
Rhodes died in his sleep at age 91 on June 27, 2007 at his home in Katonah, New YorkKatonah, New York
Katonah, New York is one of three unincorporated hamlets within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York, United States.-History:Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, an American Indian from whom the land of Bedford was purchased by a group of English colonists...
. He had spent the entire day working in his office.
Rhodes' wife, Beatrice, died in 2002. They had four children, David, Andrew, Steven and Anthony. However, he was survived by only three sons, David, Steven and Anthony and six grandchildren. David Rhodes currently serves as president of the School of Visual Arts.