On a Sunday in December, 1982, a bronze statue honoring Ohio Gov. James A. Rhodes was unveiled on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. The 700-pound statue was designed by local artist Gary Ross and installed on a red granite plinth etched with quotations and a timeline of Rhodes’s political career, which included four terms as governor from 1963 to 1971 and from 1975 to 1983.
Rhodes was in the waning weeks of his fourth and final term in that office, having achieved one of the longest gubernatorial tenures in U.S. history. The dedication was intended to coincide benignly with Rhodes’ sendoff, including an unveiling of the statue performed by his seven grandchildren.
But the ceremony and ensuing years of the statue’s public life were dogged by several acts of protest.
The central focus of the protests was Rhodes’ role uring protests at Kent State University over President Nixon’s expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. Rhodes had traveled to Kent on May 3, 1970, after protesters had burned down the ROTC building there. During a press conference, Rhodes said the forces of law would be used to deal with protesters and that he would seek a court order declaring a state of emergency — something he never followed through on.