Aid
|
Title: FREDERICK W. THOMPSON COLLECTION Genre: Papers Dates: 1912-1987 (Predominantly, 1962-1985) Size: 17.25 linear feet ID#: 612 OCLC: ©Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor & Urban Affairs HEFA.01b.update |
Ø Subjects Ø Index |
The papers of Frederick W. Thompson were placed in the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs in January of 1974 and April of 1976 and were opened to researchers in 1976. Additional papers were added to the collection by Mr. Thompson between September of 1980 and June of 1986 and were opened for research in August of 1986. Papers contained in Part 3 of this collection were added in 1986 and 1987 and opened for research in August of 1994.
Frederick W. Thompson was born in St. John, New Brunswick, in 1900. He first became interested in the socialist movement at the age of fifteen and began attending socialist meetings at the Trades and Labor Temple in St. John. He was active as a recruiter for the Socialist Party in Canada, and he traveled extensively throughout Canada working in saw mills, dry docks, sugar refineries, and railroad shops. He joined the O.B.U. (One Big Union) while in Winnipeg in 1920.
Mr. Thompson came to the United States in 1922, where he worked in various jobs along the Pacific Coast. He joined the IWW, the U.S. counterpart of the O.B.U., in San Francisco in 1922. Mr. Thompson was arrested in Marysville, California while distributing IWW newspapers. Convicted under the California syndicalism law, Mr. Thompson spent three years in San Quentin prison with 140 other IWW members. After his release in 1927, he moved to Colorado where he became involved in the coal mine strikes. Mr. Thompson traveled throughout the United States organizing for the IWW.
Mr. Thompson served as General Secretary-Treasurer of the IWW in 1936. He later became editor of The Industrial Worker. Mr. Thompson has written two histories of the IWW, The IWW: Its First Fifty Years (1955) and with Patrick Murfin, The IWW: Its First Seventy Years (1976). Mr. Thompson continued to collect materials related to the IWW and to encourage others to do research and write on the history of the union. He actively continued these pursuits until his death in 1987 in Chicago, Illinois, where he resided.
The papers of Mr. Thompson reflect his involvement with the IWW and his interest in preserving its history. To a lesser degree, the collection illustrates Mr. Thompson's involvement with the Socialist Party and his interest in socialist organizations. In addition, Mr. Thompson's effort to become a United States citizen is extensively represented in the collection. Mr. Thompson also has collected material on the IWW legal struggle against organizational blacklisting by the U.S. attorney general during the 1950s and 1960s.
Agricultural Workers Organization (AWO), 1915-1919
Bisbee Deportation, 1917
Black longshoremen
Butte, Montana, 1911-1915
Centralia, 1919
Canadian Northern Railway Strike
Colorado Coal Strikes, 1927-1928
Finnish Radicalism
Ben Fletcher
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Goldfield, Nevada Strike, 1907
William Haywood
Joe Hill
Industrial Workers of the World, 1905-1985
Frank Little
Marine Transport Workers Union, 1913-1930s
Organizational Blacklisting, 1964-1968
San Diego Free Speech Fight, 1912
Socialist Party, U.S.A., 1973-1981
Spokane Free Speech Fight, 1909
Frederick W. Thompson Citizenship Case, 1939-1964
B. Traven
Women in the IWW
Work Peoples' College
Approximately 30 photographs of Mr. Thompson and other IWW members have been placed in the Archives Audiovisual Collection. Numerous newspapers, newsletters and several books received with this collection are available in the Archives Library.
31 1/2 manuscript boxes
1 large flat
Part 1
Series I, Industrial Workers of the World, 1970-1976, Box 1
Leaflets and literature covering various branch offices and several articles concerning IWW activities. To Series
Series II, Socialist Party of the U.S.A., 1973-1976, Box 2
Convention reports and minutes, leaflets, bulletins and literature on national and local offices. To Series
Series III, Other Organizations and Committee Materials, 1969-1976,
Box 3
Leaflets, articles, notes, clippings and other material from various organizations in which Mr. Thompson had an interest. To Series
Series IV, Legal Cases, 1939-1968, Boxes 4-7
Correspondence, orders, motions, petitions, transcripts, notes, clippings and other material concerning the legal action to remove the IWW from the U.S. attorney general's subversive list and Mr. Thompson's lawsuit against the Immigration and Naturalization Service to obtain United States citizenship. To Series
Part 2
Series V, Industrial Workers of the World, Historical Studies, 1919-1985, Boxes 8-11
Subseries A: Studies of IWW Activities, 1919-1985, Boxes 8-11
Correspondence, manuscripts, clippings and other materials sent to Mr. Thompson by researchers studying the history of the IWW from 1905 to the 1930s. To Series
Subseries B: The IWW in Art, Fiction and Drama, 1978-1981,
Box 11
Correspondence, manuscripts, clippings and other material sent to Mr. Thompson, depicting the history and activities of the IWW in art, fiction and drama from 1905 to 1980. To Series
Subseries C: IWW Historical Inquiries, 1968-1981, Box 11
Correspondence between researchers requesting information about the IWW and Mr. Thompson, the IWW historian. To Series
Series VI, Biographical Materials on IWW Members, 1912-1985, Boxes 11-15
Correspondence, clippings, articles and other material concerning IWW members and their involvement in strikes, free speech fights and other IWW activities from 1905 to 1985. To Series
Series VII, Industrial Workers of the World, Branch Activities, 1973-1986, Box 15
Newsletters, minutes, leaflets and other items concerning IWW national and branch office activities. To Series
Series VIII, Socialist Party and Socialist Organizations, 1973-1981, Boxes 15-16
Newsletters, leaflets, minutes, convention proceedings and other materials concerning the Socialist Party U.S.A. and other socialist organizations in which Mr. Thompson had an interest. To Series
Series IX, Labor and Socialist Historical Studies, 1917-1986,
Boxes 16-20
Correspondence, manuscripts, leaflets, and other materials concerning various labor and socialist history topics sent to Mr. Thompson by researchers and labor and socialist history organizations. To Series
Series X, Other Organizations and Activities, 1975-1981, Boxes 20-21, large flat
Leaflets, newsletters, clippings, correspondence and other materials from various groups in which Mr. Thompson had an interest. To Series
Part 3
Series XI, IWW Activities, 1962-1987), Boxes 22-27
Drafts of each chapter of The History of the IWW and The IWW Tells Its Story are included along with manuscripts, notes and information written and collected by Mr. Thompson. To Series
Series XII, Correspondence, IWW and Socialist Party, Boxes 28-31
Correspondence, newsletters, minutes and other items collected by Mr. Thompson concerning the IWW, the Socialist Party and topics of interest to him. To Series
Series XIII, Organizations and Publications, Box 32
Clippings, lists and information about progressive and radical organizations, newsletters, and government and labor-related publications collected by Mr. Thompson. To Series