American journalist and historian Herbert Cooper Thompson worked as a reported for the Associated Press in England and France during World War I and in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution from 1916 to 1918.
From 1924 to 1940, he worked as a writer and observer for the American Red Cross,
visiting Cuba, Puerto Rico and Europe. Collection comprises diaries, correspondence and literary manuscripts by Thompson
Repository:
University of Oregon Libraries
Special Collections & University Archives
Funding for encoding this finding
aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
Herbert Cooper Thompson, journalist and writer, was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1875, the son
of Judge J. M. Thompson. (Judge Thompson, one of Lane County's first lawyers, was president of
the Union University Association, the group of Eugene residents which promoted Eugene as the
location for the state university in the 1860's. The judge was later a member of the first
board of regents for the University of Oregon.)
Herbert C. Thompson attended the University of Oregon in the early 1890's, and completed
his education at Stanford University, graduating in 1896. In 1898, he joined the Company C,
Oregon Volunteers, and served in the-Philippines during the Spanish-American war.
He began his journalistic career as a newspaper reporter in San Francisco,
from 1900 to 1910. He then served as an Associated Press reporter from 1912 to 1920,
assigned to England and France during World War I and to the Mexican Revolution, 1916 to 1918.
From 1924 to 1940, he was employed as a writer and observer for the American Red Cross,
visiting Cuba, Puerto Rico and Europe. He became editor of the Red Cross magazine Courier
in 1948, a post he held for four years.
A respected writer and historian, Thompson contributed articles to a number of
publications including the New York Times Magazine, the Literary Digest and the
Oregon Historical Quarterly. Be was a member of the National Press Club and the Overseas
Writers group, both based in Washington D. C., his home from 1924 to 1948.
Thompson retired, with his wife, Elizabeth (there was an unhappy earlier marriage),
to Santa Cruz, California. He died October 12, 1960.
Content Description
The first portion of the collection is comprised of 58 diaries, most belonging
to Herbert C. Thompson, containing detailed descriptions of places and events. The diaries
provided source material for his newspaper accounts and magazine articles, and cover such
topics as the Philippines campaign (diaries #6-8), the San Francisco earthquake and fire,
written after the event (diary #11) and Thompson's observations of Europe during World War I,
plus accounts of his numerous trips. Detailed descriptions of the first 33 volumes of the
diaries may be found in the attached guide.
Thompson's early letters, 1883-1900, include a series from and to his mother, when he
was at Stanford University and in the Philippines. Later correspondence
is with other newspapermen and friends. There is a series of letters from an uncle, William
Thompson, a newspaperman in Alturas, California, written from 1912-1934. Another series of
letters,1920-1926, is from writer Thomas Dykes Bailey of Santa Cruz, California.
The papers include manuscripts of many of Thompson's articles and books,
including a history of the Philippines campaign, "War Without Medals" (excerpts from this
work were published in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 59, pp. 293-325), and the
unpublished novel, "The Senator Runs Again." There is also an unorganized manuscript,
"Notes on Europe, 1912-1916," which discusses newspapers and newspaper work. Loose papers
in the collection include Philippine Island newspapers, 1898, and Mexican Revolution broadsides,
photographs and mementos.
With the H. C. Thompson papers is a series of letters, 1864-1882, to his father, Judge John M. Thompson, and notes and speeches by J. M. Thompson. Major correspondents include Joseph Lane, Matthew Deady, Robert S. Bean and Cincinnatus H. Miller [Joaquin Miller].
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
Collection is open to the public.
Collection must be used in Special Collections & University Archives Reading Room.
Restrictions on Use :
Property rights reside with Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries.
Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the
Manuscripts Librarian in Special Collections & University Archives. The
reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation :
[Identification of item], Herbert C. Thompson Papers, Ax 067, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
Collection is organized into the following series:
Diaries
Correspondence
Manuscripts
Published materials
Miscellany
Separated Materials :
Photographs in this collection are stored separately under call number PH043.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
A Citizen of the State of Nature (William E. Darling)
6
1
Priorities on Fame
6
1
Adventures on the Mexican Border in 1918
6
1
On Writing
6
2
Boyhood compositions
6
3
The Senator Runs Again (A Novel About 'Senator Brisket')
6
3
Southern Comfort
6
4
They Shall Not Pass (A Story About the Cleveland Harrison Election)
6
4
Fishing as a Fiesta
6
4
Two Stanford compositions:
"A View from My Window" and "Our Japanese"
6
4
A Professor Looks Forward
(Review of The Supercity by Robert R. Kern)
6
4
Professorese,
a Study in Cultural Illiteracy
6
4
The Banditti of the Appennines
6
4
Notes on a Trip to Yosemite in 1907
6
4
Moray Applegate
6
4
Two college compositions
6
4
Letter to New Statesman on the Chessman case
6
4
Pastor Russell
6
4
Santa Claus in a Banana Grove
6
4
The Man Who Saw Nagasaki
6
4
Hoover at the Crossroads
6
4
Reminiscences of Moray Lindsay Applegate -- Trip to Jolo
6
4
Reminiscences of an American Hacendado in Mexico
6
4
Abroad in Town
6
5
National Glory
6
5
Temperance
6
5
4th of July address
6
5
Journal on politics and public life,
written by H. C. Thompson's father, John Meredith Thompson, during the
1870s
6
6
Notes on Europe, 1912-1916. 3 paperbound
volumes
6
7
Article on the Canadian "Queen's Own Rifles" "Breaking the Coeur D'Alene
Strike: An Episode in the Career of John Hays Hammond," plus notes and
associated articles
6
8
Notebook entitled "Tomnyisms"
7
1
"Tourist in Arms: A Footnote to the
History of the American Occupation of the Philippines."
3 paperbound volumes
7
2
"Tourist in Arms: A Footnote to the
History of the American Occupation of the Philippines."
3 paperbound volumes
7
3
"Tourist in Arms: A Footnote to the
History of the American Occupation of the Philippines."
3 paperbound volumes
7
4
"War Without Medals," second sheets
7
5
"War Without Medals," second sheets
7
6
"War Without Medals," second sheets
8
1
War Without Medals: History of the Philippines Campaign
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Personal Names :
Thompson, Herbert Cooper, 1875-1960
Thompson, Herbert Cooper, 1875-1960--Correspondence
