Mr. Hughes served on the boards of several civic and business organizations. He was active with his father in law Cowgill Blair Sr., in the organization of the Mid-continent Telecasting, Inc., and its television station, KOAM. He served as director and secretary of the corporation since its beginning in 1954. He served two terms as president of the Missouri Good Roads Association. In 1965, he was elected President of the Inland Daily Press Association, in Chicago, Illinois, the largest regional press organization in the country at the time, and he served as chairman of the board.
Hughes served as vice-chairman of the Missouri State Reorganization Commission. This Commission, over a two year period of study, developed a model bill to reorganize the executive branch of state government. The model bill was used by the state legislature in drafting the reorganizational legislation, which was passed by the General Assembly on February 1, 1974. He served several terms as a director of the Joplin Chamber of Commerce and was the president of that organization. He was also a director of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. Hughes was also a member of the Joplin Rotary Club, Twin Hills Golf and Country Club, Joplin club, the First Presbyterian Church and the president of the local YMCA.
Mr. Hughes was a very big Civil War buff. He had subscriptions to historical articles about the war, served on the council for the Civil War Roundtable, collected books and newspapers about the war, and he himself wrote many papers about the Civil War and those who were involved. Before and after Hughes retired he went to many Battlefield sites all over the U.S.
Fred Hughes loved of learning history about the Civil War and those involved. He often wrote his own papers on different matters that interested him when it came to the Civil War. This is just one of the many articles that Fred Hughes wrote over the years that is in his personal collection.
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