Charles R. Denny
Member of Federal Communications Commission
Charles Ruthven Denny Jr. (April 11, 1912 – October 30, 2000) was general counsel of the United States Federal Communications Commission, then a member of the commission itself, and was later its chairman. He was married and had three children, and he was a member of the Episcopal Church.
Life
The son and grandson of wallpaper wholesalers, Denny was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in Washington, D.C. He attended the Washington public schools, graduating from Western High School in 1929. He attended Amherst College, receiving an A.B. in 1933, and then Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1936. After law school, Denny joined a Washington law firm, Covington, Burling, Rublee, Acheson & Shorb, but left after less than a year to join the United States Department of Justice in the Lands Division. He married Elizabeth Woolsey on December 31, 1937; the couple had three children: Alison, Christine, and Charles. Denny joined the FCC as assistant general counsel in February 1942, and was promoted to general counsel the following October, replacing Telford Taylor.
Denny was nominated to the FCC by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 14, 1945, to replace T.A.M. Craven, whose seat had been open since his term expired the previous June. At 32 years of age, Denny was the youngest person to be appointed to the FCC since its establishment in 1934.
“Charles R. Denny” enters the record as member of Federal Communications Commission. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Charles, Denny and Member can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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