Biography:

Eugene Octave Sykes

Eugene Octave Sykes was born on July 16, 1876, in Aberdeen, Monroe County, Mississippi, to Eugene Octavius Sykes, Confederate soldier, legislator, judge, and Mississippi 1890 Constitutional Convention delegate; and India Rogers Sykes, whose father, F. M. Rogers, was a former Whig candidate for governor of Mississippi. Sykes attended the local public schools of Aberdeen. He also attended Bell Buckle College, Tennessee; St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland; the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; and the University of Mississippi, Oxford.

After Sykes graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1897, he began a law practice in Aberdeen with E. H. Bristow. He later moved to Rosedale, and formed a law partnership with Charles Scott. Sykes married Malvina May Scott, daughter of Charles Scott, on November 17, 1903; and they had three children, Charles Scott, Octavia, and Malvina Yerger Sykes. He later returned to Aberdeen to form a successful law partnership with his brother, John Allen Sykes.

Sykes served as a Democratic presidential elector for Mississippi in 1904. In 1916, Governor Theodore G. Bilbo appointed him to fill a vacancy on the Mississippi Supreme Court. The following November he was elected to a term on the court. Sykes retired from the bench in 1924, resumed his law practice, and served on the executive committee of the Mississippi Democratic Party.

President Calvin Coolidge appointed Sykes chairman of the Federal Radio Commission in March 1927. He was reappointed to the commission by President Herbert Hoover in 1930 and by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. Sykes became the first chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, when it was established in 1934. He served as chairman of the commission until March 11, 1935. However, he continued to serve on the commission until his resignation on April 6, 1939.

Sykes represented the United States at the North American Radio Conference in Ottawa, Canada, in 1929. President Hoover appointed Sykes chairman of the American delegation to the Second International Radio Conference in Madrid, Spain, in 1932. It was at the Madrid conference that Sykes was able to persuade delegates to designate English, as well as French, as the official languages of the conference. During 1933 President Roosevelt appointed Sykes chairman of the United States delegation to the North and Central America Regional Radio Conference held in Mexico City, Mexico.

After resigning from the Federal Communications Commission in 1939, Sykes joined the law firm of Spearman, Sykes, and Roberson in Washington, D.C. He died of a heart attack on June 21, 1945.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains correspondence, printed materials, social papers, a scrapbook of photographs and newspaper clippings, and other papers of Eugene Octave Sykes, lawyer, Mississippi Democratic presidential elector, Mississippi Supreme Court justice, chairman of the Federal Radio Commission, and the first chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Included among Sykes's correspondence are a January 12, 1925, executive order of Governor Henry L. Whitfield appointing Sykes special chancellor of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, and a June 30, 1934, executive order of President Franklin Roosevelt appointing Sykes chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The collection also contains the publication, The Federal Communications Bar Journal, Volume 8, Number 2, June 1945, with an article written in memory of Sykes entitled "Eugene Octave Sykes, 1876-1945"; a scrapbook of photographs and newspaper clippings documenting Sykes's public service on the Mississippi Supreme Court and as chairman of the Federal Radio Commission and the Federal Communications Commission; and commissions signed by Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt appointing Sykes to the Federal Radio Commission and a commission signed by President Roosevelt appointing Sykes chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

 

Series Identification:

Correspondence (Incoming and Outgoing). 1925; 1927; 1933-1935; 1938-1940; 1942; n.d. 61 items.
This series contains the incoming and outgoing correspondence of Eugene Octave Sykes spanning his years of public service on the Federal Radio Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. Included among the correspondence are a January 12, 1925, executive order signed by Governor Henry L. Whitfield appointing Sykes special chancellor of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi; a June 14, 1933, letter from Acting Secretary of State William Phillips appointing Sykes chairman of the United States delegation to the North American Radio Conference which was held in Mexico City, Mexico; and a June 30, 1934, executive order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt appointing Sykes chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Box 1, folder 1


Printed Materials. 1945. 1 item.
This series contains The Federal Communications Bar Journal, Volume 8, Number 2, June 1945, a publication of the Federal Communications Bar Association, which includes an article written in memory of Sykes entitled "Eugene Octave Sykes, 1876-1945."

Box 1, folder 2.


Social Papers. 1929-1940; n.d. 87 items.
This series contains social papers such as announcements, invitations, and Christmas cards of Eugene Octave Sykes and his wife, Malvina Scott Sykes.

Box 1, folder 3 (1929-1940).
Box 1, folder 4 (undated).


Newspaper Clippings. 1975. 3 items.
This series contains a newspaper biography of Eugene Octave Sykes and two articles regarding a historical marker dedicated to Sykes in Aberdeen.

Box 1, folder 5.


Scrapbook. n.d. 1 item.
This series contains a scrapbook of photographs and newspaper clippings of articles pertaining to Eugene Octave Sykes's career as a Mississippi Supreme Court justice, chairman of the Federal Radio Commission, and first chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Box 2 (pages 29-100).
Box 3 (pages 101-178; unnumbered pages).


Miscellany. 1885; 1897; 1914; 1916; 1921; 1927; 1929-1930; 1933-1934; 1939. 18 items.
This series contains miscellaneous items such as Eugene Octave Sykes's 1897 University of Mississippi Law School diploma; a commission signed by Governor Theodore G. Bilbo appointing Sykes to the Mississippi Supreme Court on December 7, 1916; commissions signed by Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt appointing Sykes to the Federal Radio Commission; a commission signed by President Franklin Roosevelt appointing Sykes to the Federal Communications Commission on June 30, 1934; and a guest book from a testimonial dinner honoring Sykes on April 8, 1939. Arranged chronologically.

Box 4
Box 5 (guest book).