The Strom Thurmond Collection is one of the largest collections in the holdings of Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives
The Strom Thurmond Collection includes more than a million letters to and from constituents, colleagues and dignitaries and over 12,000 photographs, as well as background research material, speeches, political cartoons, audio-visual material and artifacts documenting Thurmond’s long life and career.
Born in 1902, Strom Thurmond was an eyewitness to many of the major events of the 20th century. The Strom Thurmond Collection is filled with material for researchers interested in a wide variety of topics related to 20th century American government, politics, military history, economic and social issues, international relations and much more.
This exhibit provides an overview of Thurmond's career with connections to potential research topics using his papers. All images in the exhibit are from the Strom Thurmond Collection.
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Clemson Connection
Strom Thurmond graduated from Clemson College with a degree in Horticulture in 1923. He was a member of a championship cross-country team, as well as the varsity track team. Thurmond joined the Calhoun Literary Society, serving a term as president, and was a member of the Agricultural Society and Senior Dancing Club.
Strom Thurmond was an active Clemson alumnus. He spoke on campus many times and served as president of the Clemson Alumni Association from 1940 to 1941.
In 1981, Strom Thurmond was one of three recipients of the first Clemson Medallion, the highest public honor an individual can receive from Clemson. That same year he was named adjunct professor of political science and donated his papers and memorabilia to the University. In 1983, he was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame.
The Strom Thurmond Institute was dedicated in 1989. The building housed the Strom Thurmond Institute of Government and Public Affairs, conducting applied research and service in public policy areas at the local, regional, state and national levels, and the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives, home of the Strom Thurmond Collection, University Archives and other collections.
Material from Strom Thurmond's Clemson days is found in the Personal series of the Strom Thurmond Collection.
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Early Career : Teacher, Superintendent, Lawyer, State Senator, Judge
After graduating from Clemson, Strom Thurmond taught agriculture and coached high school basketball and football. In 1929, he was elected Superintendent of Education of Edgefield County.
Thurmond also studied law and was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1930. His legal career continued while he served as a state senator from 1932 until 1938 when he was elected to fill an unexpired term as a state circuit judge.
Materials related to Strom Thurmond's early career are primarily in the Personal series of the Strom Thurmond Collection. His years as a state senator are documented in the State Senate series. Research topics in this series include the work of various New Deal agencies in South Carolina and particularly Edgefield County, liquor laws, social security, state college building programs and appointments to various positions.
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Military Service
Judge Strom Thurmond enlisted in the Army just after the United States entered World War II in December 1941. He reported for active duty in April 1942 as a captain in the Corps of Military Police. After doing legal work for Army intelligence in New York, he was assigned to the Civil Affairs Division of the First Army in October 1943 and worked in England. Thurmond participated in the Normandy Invasion with the 82nd Airborne Division and was wounded when the glider carrying him crashed into a field behind German lines.
Thurmond served in Europe and briefly in the Pacific, receiving five battle stars and eighteen decorations, medals and awards. He returned to the United States in October 1945 and was discharged in January 1946 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Receiving the Bronze Star for heroism on the field of battle in Normandy, December 1944.
After World War II, Thurmond returned to the U.S. Army Reserve. He was promoted to Colonel in 1948, to Brigadier General in 1954, and to Major General in 1959. He retired from the Army Reserve in 1963.
Thurmond also was involved in the Reserve Officers Association (ROA) and the Military Government Association. He served as vice-president of Army Affairs for the ROA from 1953-54, national ROA president from 1954-55 and president of the Military Government Association from 1957-58.
The Military Service series of the Strom Thurmond Collection includes correspondence and records related to Strom Thurmond's 40+ years with the military, covering his active service, reserve service and military associations.
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Governor
Strom Thurmond served as governor of South Carolina from 1947 to 1951. His major accomplishments included encouraging the state legislature to pass laws reorganizing state government, establishing a state Probation, Pardon and Parole Board, removing the poll tax, granting incentives to new industries, and promoting some improvements in the state education system, health services and public welfare programs.
The Gubernatorial series in the Strom Thurmond Collection includes correspondence (both official and personal), campaign material, speeches and other items documenting term as governor. Other research topics represented in the Gubernatorial series include agriculture; civil rights; economic development; education, including regional education, trade schools and state universities; election reform; state government reorganization; the Governors’ Conference and the Southern Governor’s Conference; health; law enforcement; the lynching of Willie Earle; the prison system; rural electrification; the textile industry; and women in government.
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Presidential Candidate
While serving as governor, Strom Thurmond was selected as the 1948 presidential candidate of the States’ Rights Democratic Party, commonly known as the Dixiecrats. The party was formed after the Democratic Party selected Harry Truman as their candidate for president at their national convention.
Governor Thurmond speaking at the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
While all of the Mississippi delegates and half of the Alabama delegates walked out of the Democratic National Convention in protest over the civil rights plank in the party’s platform, Strom Thurmond and some other Southern delegates remained to cast their votes for Georgia Senator Richard Russell.
The Alabama and Mississippi delegates, and some from other Southern states, later met in Birmingham, Alabama where they nominated Strom Thurmond for president and Mississippi governor Fielding Wright for vice president. The Dixiecrats' platform was rooted in white supremacy and supported continuing racial segregation. They opposed federal anti-lynching legislation, anti-poll-tax legislation, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission and other civil rights proposals.
Party leaders hoped to get individual states to pledge their Democratic Party electors to the States’ Rights Democratic Party candidates in order to prevent the election of the major party candidates and throw the decision into the House of Representatives.
The Thurmond/Wright ticket won more than one million votes (2.9% of the popular vote), 39 electoral votes, and four states - Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
The Gubernatorial series in the Strom Thurmond Collection has the largest collection of known material on the States’ Rights Democratic Party, especially the South Carolina branch.
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U. S. Senator
Write-In Campaign
In 1950, Strom Thurmond lost an election for a seat in the U. S. Senate. When his term as governor expired in January 1951, he returned to Aiken, South Carolina to practice law.
In 1954, Thurmond launched a write-in campaign for the Senate seat of Burnet Maybank who died two months before the election. South Carolina Democratic Party leaders had nominated State Senator Edgar A. Brown to be the new candidate. With South Carolina primarily a one-party (Democrat) state, many voters felt they had not had a say in the Senate election.
Thurmond defeated Brown with just over 63% of the vote, becoming the only person to win a U.S. Senate election by write-in campaign.
In 1956, Thurmond resigned his Senate seat, fulfilling his campaign promise to run in the next election cycle for the remaining four years of the term. He won the primary and the election unopposed and returned to the Senate in January 1957.
Re-election
Strom Thurmond was re-elected to the Senate seven more times -- in 1960, 1966, 1972, 1978, 1984, 1990 and 1996.
In 1997, he remarked “When I came to the Senate, I didn’t have an idea of staying this long. But when you get here and get in the swing of things, one challenge after another is appealing, and I like to accomplish things.”
He served under ten presidents.
The Campaigns series in the Strom Thurmond Collection documents his many campaigns for the U.S. Senate, as well as his involvement in several presidential campaigns. The series includes correspondence, material about his opponents, financial records, publicity material and lists of supporters and contributors.
The Cartoons series in the Strom Thurmond Collection contains more than 250 cartoons that Thurmond or his staff received during his years of public service. About 120 of the cartoons are original drawings. Many of the originals are signed and personalized by the cartoonist. The cartoons date from the 1950s through the mid-1980s, although the majority are from the 1960s and 1970s.
Party Switch
From 1961 to 1963, Senator Thurmond was the Senate's leading Democratic opponent to major legislation supported by President John F. Kennedy, also a Democrat.
In 1964, Thurmond received national attention when he switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party to campaign for presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. Goldwater lost the election by a wide margin, but won in South Carolina and four other Southern states. Thurmond’s party switch signaled a major change in traditional allegiance to the Democratic Party in South Carolina and throughout the South.
Thurmond’s re-election in 1966 made him the only U.S. Senator to be elected while running as an independent, as a Democrat and as a Republican.
Senate Committees
Strom Thurmond served lengthy terms on several powerful Senate committees. He served on the Senate Committee on Armed Services from 1959 until 2003, including as chair from 1995 to 1999. He was a member of the Judiciary Committee from 1967 to 2002, serving as chair from 1981 to 1987. He served on the Committee for Veterans’ Affairs from 1971 to 2003.
Both the Legislative Assistant series and Military Assistant series in the Strom Thurmond Collection contain constituent and colleague correspondence, background research, press releases and other material related to various hearings and legislation Strom Thurmond was involved in during his lengthy Senate career. Examples of the wide variety of topics covered include civil defense, the drafting of women, Vietnam War POWs, military survivor benefits, the Panama Canal, private relief bills, school desegregation and busing, and the Savannah River Plant.
President Pro Tempore
Strom Thurmond served as President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate from 1981 to 1987 and again from 1995 to 2001. The President Pro Tempore presides over the Senate when the vice president is not present. The position also is third in line to succeed the president following the vice president and the speaker of the House.
The President Pro Tempore series in the Strom Thurmond Collection mainly includes recommendations for various government positions such as secretary of state and ambassadors to foreign countries.
Constituent Connections
“Certainly, it is our job as legislators to make the law, but as public servants, it is our duty and responsibility to come to the aid of the citizens of our states. … To make a difference in society, we do not necessarily have to pass a landmark bill, steer money back to our states, or be seen frequently on television or in the papers.
By simply helping someone resolve a problem with their Social Security check or secure a passport, we can have a tangible and positive impact in the lives of others. Place an equal emphasis on constituent services as on policy and legislation, task staffers to act as case workers, and be an advocate for your state and citizens with executive branch agencies. Constituent service is not an antiquated notion, it is part and parcel of why we are here.”
-- Strom Thurmond, c 2000
(photo) Postcard sent by South Carolina textile workers in 1959. The poster on the back urged Senator Thurmond to vote against Congress' plan to cut protective tariffs.
Senator Thurmond received thousands of letters each year on a wide variety of topics, most either expressing an opinion or requesting assistance of some type. He and his office staff were known for trying to respond to every request. With very few exceptions, all correspondence that included a return address was answered, regardless of the writer’s state of residence.
In addition, Thurmond prided himself on taking time out from his Washington schedule to return to his home state to announce federal grants for projects such as housing, pre-school programs, and water and sewer improvements; to attend groundbreaking and dedication ceremonies; and to participate in fairs, festivals and other special events.
Strom Thurmond also personally welcomed thousands of individuals and groups from South Carolina who visited his Washington office each year, often posing for photographs with them in his office, on the Capitol steps, in front of the portrait of John C. Calhoun, or in the Senate dining room.
In addition, Strom Thurmond supported many defense, veteran, civic, fraternal and agricultural organizations, including the American Legion, the Lion's Club, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, AmVets, the Disabled American Veterans, the Masons and the Shriners.
The Personal Assistant series in the Strom Thurmond Collection contains calendars of events and other correspondence related to Strom Thurmond's visits and visitors.
Staff Loyalty
"When I first came here, I had four attorneys and three clerk/typists on my staff. Today, I have a Washington staff many times that size and I need each and every one of them to help me keep up with not only the many different matters before the Senate, but the countless other policy initiatives undertaken by the executive branch.
A strong, competent, and capable staff is absolutely necessary to a Senator to aid him or her in keeping up with their duties, in maintaining contact with their constituents, and assuring the smooth functioning of the legislative process. Throughout my career, I have made it a point to hire the best people I could to work as staffers in my personal office and on my committees. One of the keys to being a successful Senator is to surround oneself with a staff that is talented, bright, and hard working."
-- Strom Thurmond, c 2000
(photo) New computer equipment in Strom Thurmond's Washington D.C. office, 1984
Senator Thurmond also had one of the Senate's largest intern and page programs providing an opportunity for young South Carolinians to experience the federal government in action.
Wide ranging information related to the operation of Senator Thurmond's offices, personnel, policies and procedures over several decades can be found in several places in the Strom Thurmond Collection including the Administrative Assistant, Personal Assistant and Chief of Staff series.
Through the Decades
Throughout his more than forty years in the U. S. Senate, Strom Thurmond was actively engaged with and frequently outspoken on the topics of the day. The Strom Thurmond Collection is a valuable resource for students and scholars researching the evolution of issues, policies and events of the second half of the 20th century.
1980s
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On September 13, 1984, Senator Thurmond cast his 10,000th roll call vote. The vote was in favor of S.2851, the Financial Service Competitive Equity Act, a banking deregulation bill.
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1990s - 2003
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On March 8, 1996, Strom Thurmond became the oldest serving U.S. Senator at age 93 years and 94 days. Continuing to serve in the Senate until he was over 100, his record has yet to be broken.
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On May 25, 1997, Strom Thurmond became the longest-serving senator in U.S. history when he broke the record of 41 years, 9 months and 30 days set in 1969. His record held until June 12, 2006.
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On September 2, 1998, Senator Thurmond cast his 15,000th roll call vote, a procedural vote on an appropriations bill. He became only the second senator to cast 15,000 votes.
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Strom Thurmond retired from the U.S. Senate on on January 3, 2003. He died on June 26, 2003.
The wide variety of constituent opinions on these and many other issues, policies and events from Strom Thurmond's nearly fifty year Senate career are represented throughout the Strom Thurmond Collection, particularly in the Subject Correspondence, Correspondent Management System, Constituent Correspondence, Volume Mail and Speeches series.
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See full Strom Thurmond Collection information here.
For more information about the Strom Thurmond Collection contact Clemson Libraries Special Collections and Archives at archives@clemson.edu
Created by Susan Hiott, Curator of Exhibits, Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives