Biography
Joshua Sykes was a pacifist pastor associated with the Church of the Living God in Berkeley, California. His federal conviction was followed by appeals and delayed imprisonment. Historian Andrea Shan Johnson, citing his McNeil Island prison register, records admission on March 27, 1921 and release on June 10, 1922. His religious opposition included resistance to wartime demands for military participation and patriotic observance.
1920s custody review: Andrea Shan Johnson, A Shudder Swept Through Them, Pneuma 38 (2016), pages 326-327 and note 51, distinguishes the conviction and appeals from actual prison admission. Citing McNeil Island entry 3743 (M1619, roll 2), Johnson dates booking March 27, 1921 and release June 10, 1922. The former January 21, 1919 McNeil admission is corrected; that date did not mark the start of his prison term. Earlier arrests and transport detention remain separate unresolved events. The June 29, 1918 Oregon Daily Journal page 7 reports indictment, not an arrest date. Johnson identifies a prison photograph in NARA series 608846, box 13, but the actual image has not yet been retrieved or published.
1920s duration reconciliation: The source-supported interval 1921-03-27 through 1922-06-10 computes to 440 elapsed days (end minus start). This is the specific documented custody episode, not necessarily lifetime custody; earlier or later unquantified detention is excluded. Johnson's scholarly article cites McNeil register entry3743 for March27,1921 booking and June10,1922 discharge.440days supported. The previously blank audit expectation was superseded by this explicit evidence-based calculation; no event dates are changed here.
The March1922 official report lists Joshua Sykes in List1 of convicted prisoners or parolees. The government entry reports Conspiracy. a sentence of January 21, 1919, 18 months at McNeil Island.. Imposed terms, projected term-expiration dates, parole eligibility and intervals on bond are different measures; none is entered as a complete actual custody total. This attributed government entry is retained alongside the independently established individual chronology. [PDF18]
Government Prosecutions under the Espionage Act, Senate Document159 (March1922), PDF page 18.
