Joseph Trueman Thompson Papers
name: label: Civil engineer
content: Thompson, J. Trueman (Joseph Trueman), 1891-1977
label: Former owner
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering
topic: label: Topic
content: Bridges
label: Topic
content: Civil engineers
label: Topic
content: Highways
label: Topic
content: Materials -- Testing
label: Topic
content: Roads
label: Topic
content: Traffic
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by Joseph Trueman Thompson in 1963.
creator: label: Civil engineer
content: Thompson, J. Trueman (Joseph Trueman), 1891-1977
setName: label: See more items in
content: Joseph Trueman Thompson Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: Papers documenting the professional activities of civil engineer, Joseph Trueman Thompson, primarily relating to his work on United States highways.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Joseph Trueman Thompson, a civil engineer, was born March 28, 1891, in Baltimore, Maryland to Joseph Camillus Thompson Sr. (6 March 1861 - 12 January 1943) and Francis E. Slingluff (March 1870 - unknown).  He graduated from Baltimore City College in 1910 and attended Johns Hopkins University where he completed his studies in 1917. Thompson married Sarah Madison Brockenbrough on July 7, 1917, and to the union one daughter, Elizabeth Madison Thompson (17 August 1922 - 3 September 1995), was born. He served as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers before joining the faculty of Johns Hopkins University's Civil Engineering Department in 1919. During his tenure with the university, he also worked with the United States Government serving as a War Department adviser and chairman of the National Highway Traffic Advisory Committee. Thompson retired from Johns Hopkins University in 1958 but continued to do research on highways, a field he had become regarded as an expert and had written numerous publications on. He died in 1977 in Baltimore, Maryland at the age of eighty-five.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Cubic foot (3 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1923-1945, undated
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Work and Industry in February 2022.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1564
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Negatives
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Publications
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Materials are arranged in two series.

Series 1: Photographs, 1923-1945, undated

Series 2: Other Materials, 1924-1928, undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist, 2024.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Negatives
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Publications
scopecontent: label: Content Description
content: Papers primarily consisting of black and white photographs documenting highway impact tests and impact tests on beam and bridge members.  In addition, there is a list of Thompson's publications and two copies of Public Roads, a journal of highway research published by the United States Department of Agriculture, dating from 1924 and 1928.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History


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