Joseph D. Scholtz graduated from DuPont Manual High School, then Cornell University in 1912.

Scholtz was appointed president of Louisville's Board of Parks in 1933 and was the only Democrat to serve in Republican Mayor William B. Harrison's administration.

During his term a business license tax was enacted and the planning of Standiford Field began, as did the switchover from streetcars to buses in the city.

he convinced the Board of Education to increase pay for black teachers in the city's school system.

After directing civil defense in a nine-state area in 1942, he joined the army as a major in 1943 and was sent to North Africa then Italy, where he was a commissioner for the military government.