Manuscript Collections - William F. Tompkins Papers

 

WILLIAM F. TOMPKINS PAPERS, 1927-1981
9 linear feet, 2 linear inches (21 LGA-S boxes)
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1913, William F. Tompkins graduated from Rutgers University law school in 1940. He enlisted in the infantry in 1942 and after serving in the United States and Asia he was assigned to the U.S. War Crimes Office in Saigon. 

Tompkins was elected to the New Jersey State Assembly in 1950 and became noted for his work on the issue of drug abuse. In 1951 he sponsored legislation which established a legislative commission on narcotics.  Tompkins was named chair and sponsored changes which made the New Jersey law a model for the nation.  In 1954 he co-authored The Traffic of Narcotics with Harry J. Anslinger, director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

Tompkins left the Assembly in 1953 when President Eisenhower appointed him United States Attorney for New Jersey.  His success in prosecuting corrupt politicians and organized crime figures led to his promotion in July 1954 to the position of Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Internal Security Division of the Justice Department.

The Internal Security Division was concerned with communist espionage and domestic subversion and under Tompkins' leadership over 100 Communists were convicted. The most famous case was the capture and conviction of the spy Rudolph Abel who was later exchanged for the U2 pilot Gary Powers who had been shot down over the Soviet Union.

In April 1958 Tompkins resigned as Assistant Attorney General to return to the private law practice.  He remained a member of an advisory commission to Federal Bureau of Narcotics and was a delegate to the 1962 White House Conference on Narcotics and Drug Abuse.  He died in July 1969.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The papers contain correspondence, memos, clippings, articles and speeches by Tompkins, scrapbooks, trial briefs and transcripts, photographs and printed material. 

BOXLIST

Box Contents

1

Abel Case

Correspondence, 1957-1979, undated
Appeal to Supreme Court, 1959-1960
Appeals Court

Briefs, 1958
Decision, 1958

Clippings, 1927-1981 (2 folders)
Grand Jury

Charges
Testimony, 1957 (3 folders, Reino Hayhanen)
Tompkins Statement

Interoffice Memos
Jencks Case Implications
Legal Considerations

2

Microdots
Photographs
Powers, Francis – Clippings on Exchange, 1962
Trial

Brief
Expenses and Fine
Notes
Opening   Remarks
Pre-Trial Documents, 1957 (4 folders)
Transcripts, Oct 3-4, 1957 (2 folders)

3

Transcripts, Oct 8-22, 1957 (8 folders)

4

Transcripts of Trial, Oct 23-Nov 15, 1957 (4 folders)
Vouchers, 1958-1960

Capital Punishment Commission

Clippings, 1964
Public Hearings, 1964
Reports, 1964
Clippings, 1950-1965, undated (4 folders)

5

Communism

Correspondence, 1954-1958
Cleveland Bar Association Controversy, 1956 (2 folders)
Clippings, 1950, 1954-1961, undated (3 folders)
Court Cases, 1954-1958
Essays, 1954-1961
Hughes Case, 1956
Legislation, 1953-1954
New Jersey, 1954-1955

6

World Federalism

Correspondence, 1950-1951
Dean Rusk statement on revision of UN charter, 1950
New Jersey Assembly Proceedings, 1949
Pamphlets and promotional materials, 1949-1950, undated
Public Hearings: New Jersey, 1951
Resolutions, 1949, 1951

Deltufo, Raymond Jr. 1954-1956
Fluoridation Controversy
Internal Security Division

Congratulations on Appointment (4 folders)
Correspondence, May-July 1954

7

Correspondence, Aug 1954-June 1956 (13 folders)

8

Correspondence, July 1956-1958, undated (7 folders)
Clippings, 1954-1957, undated (2 folders)
Directories
The preparation and trial of an industrial security case by Walter E. Dillon, Jr., 1956
Statements by William and Jane Tompkins
Travel, 1954-1958 (2 folders)

Juvenile Delinquency, 1955-1958
Narcotics

Articles

Clinics, undated

9

Crime, 1925, 1956
Dope: Congress encourages the traffic by Alfred R. Lindesmith, 1957
The Family of the Addict by Isidor Chein, 1956
History of legal patterns in the US by William Tompkins, undated
Juveniles, 1956-1957, undated
Red China’s secret weapon by Victor Lasky, 1953
Rehabilitation, 1952, 1956
Treatment, 1947, 1952, 1956

Canada, 1955
Clippings, 1953-1960, undated
Correspondence, 1952-1958, undated (4 folders)
Court Cases – New Jersey, 1953, 1956, 1958
Educational pamphlets, 1951, undated
Federal Bureau of Narcotics – training school, 1957
History of narcotic drug addiction problems – remarks by M. L. Harney, 1958
International Opium Protocol Hearings, 1954
Legislation

General, 1955-1960, undated

10

Bills and Resolutions, 1952-1956, undated
Laws, 1952-1956, undated
Hypodermic Needle Law, 1955-1956, undated (2 folders)
Legislative Program, 1956
Oral Prescription Rule, 1953-1957, undated (2 folders)
Stiff Penalty Legislation

General, 1955-1956, undated
Clippings
Veto, 1956

Merk pharmaceutical – Narcotine/Nectadon, undated

11

Narcotics Control Commission

General, 1956-1958, undated
Annual Reports, 1955-1958 (2 folders)
Minutes, 1953-57

Narcotics Study Commission: Annual Report, 1952
New Jersey Department of Institutions and Agencies, 1957
Reports

 American Bar Association Report, 1958
American Prison Association, 1953         
Federal, 1956, 1960
New Jersey

A coordinated approach towards preventing delinquency, 1956
Helping youth in trouble: a treatment approach to correcting juvenile offenders in New Jersey, 1957
Narcotic drugs by Leonard J. Iatesta, 1952

12

New York

Basic issues in prevention of self-destructive behavior among adolescents in deprived areas of the city, 1955
Juvenile heroin users in New York City, 1956
Narcotic addition in New York – 1955, 1956
Narcotics 1952, 1952

Ohio – Narcotics investigation, 1954-1955
Pennsylvania – Altoona Womans Club, 1951
Speeches and Statements

Congressional Record, 1951, 1954
Harry J. Anslinger – Narcotics today, 1955
Jane Tompkins, undated
William F. Tompkins

Survey of conditions in New York, 1955          
Traffic in Narcotics by Harry J. Anslinger and William F. Tompkins

Correspondence, 1952-1954
Promotional materials, 1953
Reviews, 1953-1954

Treatment and Rehabilitation, 1951-1956, undated
Violations Statistics, 1952-58

13

White House Conference on Narcotics and Drug Abuse, 1962

New Jersey Assembly

Attorney General, 1953
Correspondence, 1947-51, undated
Legislative Index, 1951, 1953
Minutes and Journal, 1953
Session Laws, 1951

New Jersey  Politics

General, 1946-1960, undated (2 folders)
Clippings, 1955-1956, undated
Walter Winne Case

New Jersey State Police, 1953
Photographs – portraits, undated (Richard Nixon, negative)

14

Pound, Ezra – Treason, 1958
Speeches by Tompkins

Maplewood Lions Club, Oct 27, 1950
Passaic County Bar Assn., Jan 30, 1954                     
Luncheon for Tompkins, Feb 10, 1954            
Essex County Shrine, Apr 29, 1954
Business and Defense Services Administration, July 22, 1954           
Lincoln Club, Denver, Aug 10, 1954
City Club of Denver, Aug 10, 1954
The Leading Question (CBS radio program), Aug 18, 1954
Third Judicial Circuit Conference, Sep 9, 1954
Camden County Bar Association, Sep 28, 1954
New York Times Youth Forum, Oct 17, 1954
Mercer County (NJ) Republican Club, Oct 20, 1954
New Jersey Broadcasters Association, Nov 8, 1954
Jefferson School PTA, Nov 8, 1954
Atlantic City Kiwanis and Exchange Clubs, Nov 24, 1954
Mount Holyoke College Symposium, Dec 4, 1954
Conference on Industrial Security – summary for Commerce Dept., Jan 12, 1955
Glen Ridge (NJ) Battalion Forum, Feb 15, 1955
Plant Security Conference, Schenectady, NY, Feb 17, 1955
Senate Committee on Government Operations, Mar 8, 1955

15

South Mountain Lodge, South Orange, NJ, Mar 15, 1955
Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, Mar 30, 1955
Sons of American Revolution, Morristown, NJ, Apr 23, 1955
Military Police Officers, Washington, D.C., May 9, 1955
Industrial Security Institute, NYC, May 13, 1955
YMCA of Washington, D.C., May 19, 1955
Firefighters of Neptune, NJ, May 29, 1955
Conference on Personnel Security, Washington, D.C., June 3, 1955
Newark-Academy Graduation, Newark, NJ, June 8, 1955
American Legion Flag Day, West New York, NJ, June 14, 1955
Houston Rotary Club, July 7, 1955
West Virginia Assn. of Insurance Agents, Aug 16, 1955
American Bar Association, Philadelphia, Aug 23, 1955
International Mining Days, El Paso, Sep 30, 1955
International Assn. of Police Chiefs, Oct 3, 1955
Hunterdon Republican Club, Oct 19, 1955
OSI Commanding Officers' Conference, Oct 31, 1955
Pima County (AZ) Bar Association, Nov 29, 1955
Salt Lake Kiwanis & Chamber of Commerce, Dec 1, 1955
Village Club, South Orange, NJ, Jan 9, 1956
Butte Exchange Club, Butte Montana, Jan 24, 1956
Women's National Republican Club, NYC, Feb 1, 1956
Industrial Security Conference, Schenectady, NY, Feb 15, 1956
Newark (NJ) Rotary Club, Feb 21, 1956
Federation of Women's Clubs, Trenton NJ, Mar 26, 1956
Christ's Church, Short Hills, NJ, Apr 22, 1956
New Jersey State Bar Association, May 11, 1956
First Ward Republican Women, East Orange, May 24, 1956
U.S. Attorneys Conference, July 1956
Miami Citizenship Day Parade, Sep 17, 1956
Methodist Ministers Seminar, Sep 26, 1956
Federal Business Men's Assn, New Orleans, Oct 9, 1956
Testimonial Dinner for Dominick A. Spina, Oct 10, 1956
Indiana State Adjusters Assn., Indianapolis, Oct 12, 1956
Society of Former FBI Agents, New Orleans, Nov 9, 1956
Rutgers Alumni Association, Newark, Dec 7, 1956
Dawn Patrol Breakfast, Waldorf Astoria, NYC, Jan 8, 1957
Children of the American Revolution – state convention, Princeton, NJ, Mar 30, 1957
Department of Defense. Federal Bar Association, May 13, 1957

16

Middlesex County (NJ) Bar Association, May 28, 1957
American Bar Association Convention, London, July 25, 1957
Conference of Mayors, NYC, Sep 9, 1957
Industrial Security Institute, Feb 28, 1958
Morris County Women's Republican Club, Feb 28, 1958
Grand Jury Association of Essex County, Oct 27, 1958 (undelivered?)
Explorer Scouts of Princeton, NJ, Mar 29, 1958
FBI Alumni Society of New Jersey, May 3, 1959
Methodist Men of Westfield (NJ), Oct 25, 1960
Recipient of Newark Academy Alumni Achievement Award, Apr 25, 1968
Communist threat, undated
Congressional elections, undated
Information and security, undated 

Speeches by Others

George C. Doub (Asst. Attorney General), 1956
Herbert Brownell, Jr. (Attorney General), 1953
Lewis W. Jones on Heimlich-Finley Case (5th amendment and communism), 1953

Tompkins, William F.

Biographical Data, 1953-1966
Honors and Awards, 1955-1956, undated
Memorabilia, 1950-1958, undated (artwork, certificates)
Military Records, 1942-1947
Personal Correspondence, 1946, 1949-1989, undated (Richard Nixon, 2 folders)
Resignation as Attorney General, 1958

United States Attorney

Correspondence, 1953 (2 folders)

17

Correspondence, 1954 (2 folders)
Congratulations on Appointment (3 folders)
Criminal Cases

Harold J. Adonis Case, 1952-1954
Frank Costello Case
Other Cases
William B. Stayback Case, 1953

18

Logic and the Fifth Amendment by Sidney Hook, 1956
National Security Council, undated
Orientation to Justice Department Materials 

War Crimes Division

Colonel Tsuji, 1945-1950, undated
Correspondence, 1945-1989, undated (4 folders)
Court Transcripts, 1946
Evidence, Charges, Petitions, 1946
Japanese Language Documents
Japanese Regulations, 1942, 1944, undated
Language Lessons
List of war crimes suspects, 1945
Maps, 1946, undated
Memorabilia, 1946, undated
Newspaper Articles, 1946
Personnel, 1946, undated

19

Photographs

Locations
People (defendants, hanging)
Personal
Regulations, 1945
Statements, 1945-1946, undated (2 folders)
Summons to Witnesses
Supreme Court Appeal, 1945

20

Eisenhower Inaugural Memorabilia (Evening Star, permits, tickets)

Scrapbooks

Abel case - clippings, 1957-1958 (2 vols.)
Department of Justice. United States Attorney, 1953-1954                               
Clippings, transcript, letters, speeches.
Narcotics, gambling, communism. 

21

Department of Justice. Internal Security Division, 1953-1958 (2 vols.)

Clippings, memos, certificates, letters, photo, programs.
Communism, unions.

Russian Spy cases - clippings, 1957-1958.

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