Orestes Hampton Caldwell (March 8, 1888 – August 27, 1967) was one of the first five members of the

Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by t ...

. He may have been the first person to coin the term

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

Biography

He was born on March 8, 1888 in Lexington, Kentucky. He graduated from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

as an electrical engineer, specializing in telephone and communications. In 1907 he succeeded Lee De Forest as technical editor of ''Western Electrician'' (later ''Electrical Review''). He went on to edit a number of engineering and technical journals, including ''Electrical World'', ''Electrical Merchandising'', and ''Radio Retailing''. He married Mildred Bedard. In 1927, with the backing of

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bus ...

Secretary

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

, he was appointed to the newly created

, where he helped oversee the reorganization of the U.S. radio system. His tenure on the FRC was marked by consistent support for high-powered radio, a position that led to frequent clashes with the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. Making matters worse, he seemed to lack the temperament for politics; as one newspaper put it, "A stormy petrel on the commission from start to finish, he narrowly escaped confirmation by the Senate both times. When he was on the grill the second time, he added to the gayety of the situation by bawling out Congress and this caused such a melee that he came within a couple of votes of being thrown out." One of the enemies Caldwell made was a key senator for radio policy,

Clarence Dill Clarence Cleveland Dill (September 21, 1884January 14, 1978) was an American politician from the state of Washington. A Democrat, he was elected to two terms each in both houses of Congress. Early years Dill was born in Fredericktown, Ohio, ...

, who helped author the

Radio Act of 1927 The Radio Act of 1927 (United States Public Law 632, 69th Congress) was signed into law on February 23, 1927. It replaced the Radio Act of 1912, increasing the federal government's regulatory powers over radio communication, with oversight veste ...

. Upon Caldwell's resignation from the FRC, Dill commented, "Since Mr. Caldwell is leaving the commission I am not going to spend time discussing is work there except to say that I think the country is very fortunate that he has left. … I think anybody would be an improvement over Mr. Caldwell so far as the service of the public is concerned." Nonetheless, Caldwell had the reputation of being the most technologically knowledgeable of the early Radio Commissioners. Following his stint on the FRC, he returned to the industry as editor of ''Electronics'' and in other capacities. A passionate fan of electronic gadgets, he hosted a weekly show called ''Radio Magic'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He also outfitted his house in

Cos Cob, Connecticut Cos Cob is a neighborhood and census-designated place in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. It is located on the Connecticut shoreline in southern Fairfield County. It had a population of 6,770 at the 2010 census. Cos Cob is located on the we ...

, with all kinds of electrical devices as a kind of "Dwelling of the Future." ''World Trade'' called it the "House of One Thousand Servants" and "an electrical fairyland where every function and every household chore is accomplished automatically.""The House of One Thousand Servants," World Trade May, 1934, p. 8 He died on August 27, 1967 in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and other ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Orestes H. 1888 births 1967 deaths People from Lexington, Kentucky Purdue University College of Engineering alumni Members of the Federal Radio Commission