The Thompson Papers are a collection representing, although not completely documenting, the career of Thompson as a humanitarian, a peace and civil rights activist, and a civil libertarian. The collection contains virtually no personal information about Thompson; instead it is useful for research on the organizations in which he was active. In many cases the records on these organizations are extremely rare. There are no records in the papers pertaining to these activities after the late 1950s, although the collection is very strong on his activities immediately before and after World War II. In addition, there is very little in the papers touching on his pastoral activities, his religious views (except for a few tape-recorded sermons), or the harassment to which he was subjected due to his political views. Thompson's early involvement with Highlander and his participation in the Southern Conference Educational Fund are entirely omitted. However, a large volume of tape recordings pertaining to Highlander which came into archival custody from Thomspon have been catalogued as part of the Historical Society's Highlander collection.
The collection consists primarily of correspondence, printed matter pertaining to the organizations with which he was involved, speeches and sermons, and subject files. The collection, when received by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, consisted of approximately sixteen cubic feet of records taken directly from Thompson's files. The records, which originally combined both reference and administrative functions, when received at the archives were organized in a highly systematized manner with extensive cross references between many of the related files. A large part of the collection originally consisted of files of clippings and articles on topics of interest to Thompson. Those of purely secondary informational content were weeded, and the publications transferred to the Society Library. The remaining files have been organized as general papers, organizational files, subject files, and conferences. The existing order was observed as closely as possible in the processing of the collection, and as a result the researcher will note that some files on apparently related topics are scattered within the collection. For example, information on the YMCA may be found both in the organizational files and in the conferences section of the collection.
The series designated GENERAL PAPERS consists of miscellaneous chronological correspondence, 1936-1958; speeches and sermons by Thompson and others; and a bibliography file. Although correspondence accompanies almost every file in the collection, the correspondence here came primarily from a miscellaneous file created by Thompson. Included in the speeches and writings section are speeches by Thompson as well as some by others active in the American Peace Mobilization. Also included are tapes of three sermons delivered by Thompson. Lastly, a file was created from various parts of the collection of bibliographies of recommended readings on peace, war, civil rights, etc.
Files on the various organizations with which Thompson was involved have been arranged according to the extent of his involvement rather than on the basis of the kinds of material included. In varying degrees, both the ORGANIZATIONAL FILES and the SUBJECT FILES contain correspondence, minutes, news releases, and other published material although both sections refer to groups in which Thompson had some interest.
The ORGANIZATIONAL FILE consists of information on those groups in which Thompson was active as a founder or officer and an additional file for groups in which he was active but for which the documentation is less extensive. Prominent among the first group, which is arranged alphabetically by key word, are records of the Chicago Council Against Racial and Religious Discrimination, the National Committee to Repeal the McCarran Act, the American Peace Mobilization, and the Committee for Peaceful Alternatives. Also notable are the files on the Oklahoma Youth Legislature, an affiliate of APM, which came under attack for its liberal activities and the admission of Blacks as members.
The SUBJECT FILES are arranged into the categories in Thompson's original files (peace, civil liberties, civil rights, and religious activities) and then filed alphabetically by key word.
CONFERENCES files contain correspondence, speech notes, and brochures on various gatherings which Thompson attended as a delegate or which he helped to organize. Chief among these are his involvement with the YMCA-YWCA and various other student groups.
