MS 140 R. E. Thomason Papers
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Scope and Content Notes
The R. E. Thomason Papers, 1863-1978, consist of personal and professional correspondence, documents, records, awards, scrapbooks, photographs and newspaper clippings gathered during his long legal and political career. Elections material from his political campaigns for Governor of Texas, Mayor of El Paso and U.S. Congress is included. Judge Thomason’s correspondence of the early 1930’s reflects the dire situation of El Paso and other west Texas cities and towns during the Depression years. Scrapbooks of newspaper clippings kept throughout his years in political office show his many activities as a representative of the people of El Paso, Texas, and the nation. The collection contains about 440 photographs of prominent government and military officials, especially from World War II, along with photographs of Thomason’s inspection trips to military posts and installations as a member of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Military Affairs. His trip to Europe with other government officials at the end of the war to view the conditions of the Concentration Camps in Germany is documented in photographs, official reports, and newspaper clippings. In his unpublished book, Noted Cases I Have Tried, Thomason related some of the most famous cases he tried while serving as a Federal Judge. The papers of Roy Lassetter, Court Reporter in Federal Courts in West Texas from 1922-1925, are also part of the collection. The bulk of the material in the R. E. Thomason Papers is from his years in Congress and his activities as a member of the Committee on Military Affairs.
Series I, Personal and Biographical, contains personal correspondence and documents; award certificates and plaques; banking, tax and insurance material, and papers from his real estate investments. A Bible used during an early election at Magoffinsville, El Paso County, Texas, and R. E. Thomason’s desk name plate are in this series
The second series, Career, includes papers relating to Thomason’s legal and political career. His professional correspondence, elections and Democratic Party materials, Congressional voting records, and speeches are included. The various documents and clippings related to Thomason’s service on the House of Representative’s Committee on Military Affairs and to his many inspection trips to military posts and installations in the United States and abroad are located in this series. The most significant papers are those related to his trip to Germany near the end of World War II to witness the atrocities found in the Concentration Camps. An unbound copy of his unpublished book, Noted Cases I Have Tried, is included in this series and relates his most famous cases as a Federal Judge.
R. E. Thomason’s collection of Photographs, in Series III, consists of individual portraits of him, his colleagues in Congress and military officers. Photographs of prominent persons such as President Lyndon Baines Johnson, President Harry Truman, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Gen. John J. Pershing, and members of Congress and the Federal Courts are included. Photographs of groups and events in this series reflect his long career of public service in the Texas Legislature, Mayor of El Paso, Member of Congress, and Federal Judge.
The twelve Scrapbooks in Series IV, filled with newspaper clippings, correspondence, photographs, and notes chronicle R. E. Thomason’s unsuccessful campaign for Texas Governor in 1918-1919, his years in Congress from 1931-1947, and his later years as Federal District Judge in El Paso, Texas. One scrapbook includes reports and photographs of a Congressional inspection tour to Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Another scrapbook covers the Texas gubernatorial race, and five books reflect his sixteen years as a member of Congress. The last five scrapbooks cover his years as a Federal Judge. One book involves the Jencks and Matusow Communist Trials of 1954-1955.
The last series, Series V, Roy Lassetter Court Reporting Papers, were collected by Judge Thomason. These papers include court reporter and clerk Roy Lassetter’s correspondence, billing documents, and transcripts of court cases for Texas from about 1922-1930.