Horace Emerson Rhoads or "Dusty" Rhoads, was the last of six children born to Abe and Adaline Rhoads. Horace started working for the Anderson Daily Bulletin as a newsboy when he was 6 years old. By the time he was 16, Horace had been promoted to circulation manager. His parents and older brother, Roscoe, moved to San Diego in the fall of 1901. Horace was employed as a solicitor for the San Diego Sun and the family moved to La Jolla in late 1902. In 1904 Horace had an office in the Hartfield Building in Chicago, handling national advertising for a string of Scripps owned Pacific Coast newspapers. Horace was elected vice-president and business manager of the San Diego Sun in 1908 and was given the job of general manager for the Los Angeles Record and the San Diego Sun in 1910. Soon after, he became the general manager of the San Francisco Daily News. Horace believed that the newsboys he employed held great potential for the future and he organized the Los Angeles Newsboy Club during his tenure in Los Angeles.
Horace sold out his shares in the Scripps newspapers and devoted his time to more local pursuits. He was on the Executive Council of the La Jolla Civic League in charge of public utilities and was involved in the fight for the Camp Kearney Road and other city improvements. Other local activities included being a member of the Greater La Jolla Celebration Committee in 1924. Horace served on the founding board of directors of the First National bank of La Jolla in 1928. Many of the same men started the La Jolla Guarantee Building-Loan Association a year later of which, Horace was the vice-president. He successfully reinvigorated the dying San Diego Athletic Club during the 1930s, which he helped found in 1924. He also stayed active in San Diego politics, supporting local and state Republican candidates. Horace may have retired, but he continued his active lifestyle until his death in 1941.
From the description of Papers of Horace Emerson Rhoads, 1886-1941 (bulk dates 1910-1939) (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 288956440
