Cleophus Thomas Jr. Collection

Collection

Identifier: MSS-3887

No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

Materials in this collection include four letters written to Alabama attorney Cleophus Thomas Jr. by authors Bernard Malamud, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Nelle Harper Lee, and artist David Levine. The collection also contains a 1966 map of Washington DC autographed by map creator Jorge Guzman Hernandez, with a letter presenting it to politician Nicholas Katzenbach; two color photographs autographed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and inscribed to Katzenbach; two invitations from University of Alabama president Dr. Judy Bonner regarding events held for her presidential cabinet; and the program for the inauguration ceremony of the university's 2015-2016 Student Government Association, which included the installation of the association's second African American president, Elliot Spillers. The two Bonner invitations are made of diverse materials, including plastic, wood, and burlap.

Dates

Creation: 1966-2015

Creator

Malamud, Bernard (Author, Person)
Mason, Bobbie Ann (Author, Person)
Levine, David (Author, Person)
Lee, Nelle Harper (1926-2016) (Author, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Portions of the collection are open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. 

Access to and use of materials that were created by Nelle Harper Lee in this collection require written permission from the Lee estate. Patrons may not use cell phone cameras or any other recording devices when accessing restricted portions of this collection. University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections staff will not photocopy or digitize letters written by Nelle Harper Lee without written permission from the Lee estate. For information contact The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections staff at archives@ua.edu.

Conditions Governing Use

Access to and use of materials that were created by Nelle Harper Lee in this collection require written permission from the Lee estate. University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections staff will not photocopy or digitize letters written by Nelle Harper Lee without written permission from the Lee estate. Patrons may not use cell phone cameras or any other recording devices when accessing restricted portions of this collection. For information contact The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections staff at archives@ua.edu.

Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections staff at archives@ua.edu with questions regarding specific manuscript collections. For more information about copyright policy, please visit: https://www.ua.edu/copyright/. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal implications, for which The University of Alabama assumes no responsibility.

Biographical / Historical

Cleophus (Cleo) Thomas Jr. was born in Sylacauga, Alabama, in June 1956. While a student at The University of Alabama, he was elected the first African American president of the Student Government Association, and graduated from the university with honors in 1977. He received the George C. Marshall Scholarship to Oxford University and was awarded a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford in 1980. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1982, and served as law clerk to US District Judge J. Foy Guin from 1982 to 1983. Thomas was elected to The University of Alabama Board of Trustees in 1983 at age 27. He served on the board until March 2002. Mr. Thomas is a practicing attorney in Alabama. He is married to Carla Thomas.

In 2014, the Thomases acquired items that had belonged to Nicholas Katzenbach, who served as attorney general and under secretary of state during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. As US deputy attorney general in 1963, Katzenbach enforced desegregation at The University of Alabama during the enrollment of African American students James Hood and Vivian Malone. Katzenbach died in 2012. He was married to Lydia Katzenbach.

Extent

1.9 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Cleophus (Cleo) Thomas Jr. is an Alabama attorney and was the first African American president of the Student Government Association at The University of Alabama. The collection contains letters sent to Thomas by noted authors and artists, materials related to special events on The University of Alabama campus, and a map and photographs presented to politician Nicholas Katzenbach.

Custodial History

Cleophus and Carla Thomas purchased the two Lyndon B. Johnson photographs and the Washington DC map in 2014 from the estate of Nicholas Katzenbach, Princeton, New Jersey.

Provenance

Letters from Bernard Malamud, David Levine, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Nelle Harper Lee were received as deposits of Cleophus Thomas Jr. in 2006 and 2014.

Photographs and map from the Katzenbach estate were received as a gift of Cleophus and Carla Thomas in 2014. The photographs were given in memory of Vivian Malone Jones.

Invitations and programs were received as a gift of Cleophus Thomas Jr. in 2015.

Related Materials

Photographs of Cleophus Thomas Jr. can be found in The University of Alabama Photo Collection, 2007-001.

Items pertaining to Cleophus Thomas Jr. can be found in the O. B. Emerson Papers, MSS 0495.

Processing Information

Processed by Martha Bace, 2014.

Photographs from the Katzenbach estate processed by Marina Klarić, November 2014.

Additional processing by Erin Ryan, 2018.