Rutherford Platt Hayes (June 24, 1858 – July 31, 1927) was an American agriculturist and librarian who was the third son of

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th president of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. Hayes served as Cincinnati's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861. He was a staunch Abolitionism in the Un ...

, the 19th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Biography

Hayes attended

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

and

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where he was a member of

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...

, graduating in 1880. He also attended the Boston Institute of Technology. Hayes returned to his family's home in

Fremont, Ohio Fremont is a city in Sandusky County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Sandusky River about southeast of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo and west of Sandusky, Ohio, Sandusky. The population was 15,930 at the 2020 United St ...

, in 1882 and went to work for the Fremont Savings Bank. Soon after he returned to Fremont, Hayes became a Trustee of the Birchard Library, which was founded by his grand-uncle, Sardis Birchard. He introduced several progressive ideas to its management, including the introduction of a children's area and sending boxes of books to neighboring towns (similar to today's bookmobiles). He published the library's catalog as installments in a local paper. He was one of the founders of the Ohio Library Association in 1895 and advocated for a bill in the legislature to appoint a state library commission. Hayes was appointed to the Ohio Library Commission in 1896. Hayes left Ohio for

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where he worked on library issues and developed a traveling library. He moved to

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, where he acquired large holdings of land. He worked with Asheville resident Edward W. Pearson, an African American entrepreneur, to develop new African-American residential neighborhoods in West Asheville. In North Carolina, Hayes engaged in scientific farming on a large scale. Hayes was president of the Appalachian Forest Reserve and the western North Carolina Fair. He moved to

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city and the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa, Florida, Tampa and north of St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies T ...

, in 1922. In Florida, he served as chairman of the board of directors of the Clearwater Savings and Loan Association and the First Mortgage Investment Company. Throughout his life he maintained his interest in library matters, promoting those of Asheville and Clearwater, and retaining his membership on the board of trustees of the library in Fremont, Ohio. He served as secretary of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

and also served as vice president and acting president from October 1897 through January 1898. Hayes died on July 31, 1927, in

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

of prostate cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Rutherford Platt 1858 births 1927 deaths Librarians from Ohio Presidents of the American Library Association Cornell University alumni Michigan State University alumni People from Cincinnati People from Fremont, Ohio Children of presidents of the United States Hayes family Deaths from prostate cancer in Florida

Biography

See also

References