Thomas A. Sykes forged a political career in both Tennessee and North Carolina. He was a member of the Tennessee Legislature from 1877 to 1879 and from 1881-1883, representing Davidson County in both terms. Prior to moving to North Carolina, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives for four terms. The Democratic takeover of the South left Black legislators with limited options and compelled them to strategize differently. Rather than challenge segregation outright, Sykes demanded that if segregation be the law, public funds must be expended as well on separate institutions and accommodations for Black persons. Advocating for public aid, he introduced a bill “which provided segregated accommodations for blacks at the Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville and the School for the deaf in Knoxville” [1]. He also took charge of the department for African Americans of the segregated Tennessee Industrial School. In Tennessee, Sykes “introduced two more bills to an discrimination against blacks in jury selection and to admit black students to the University of Tennessee,” but they “were tabled in committee and never came to a vote” [2].

References

[1] Rabinowitz, Howard N. “From Exclusion to Segregation: Health and Welfare Services for Southern Blacks, 1865-1890.” Social Service Review, vol. 48, no. 3, University of Chicago Press, 1974, p 342.
[2] “Thomas A. Sykes,” “This Honorable Body”: African American Legislators in 19th Century Tennessee, Accessed 21 November 2021, https://sharetngov.tnsosfiles.com/tsla/exhibits/aale/sykes.htm

Credits

Written by Samantha de Vera, University of California, San Diego.

Edited by P. Gabrielle Foreman.

Acknowledgements: Samantha de Vera and Michelle Byrnes for further edits, visualization contributions, and technical assistance.