Thomas Norman Mattoon, 1884-1968

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Norman Mattoon Thomas (1884-1968), was a leading American socialist, pacifist, author, and six-time presidential candidate on the Socialist Party of America ticket, between 1928 and 1948. Born in Marion, Ohio, he was a graduate of Princeton University, attended Union Theological Seminary, where he became a socialist, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1911. Thomas opposed the United States' entry into the First World War, a position that earned him the disapproval of many in his socialist circle and in his church. He founded a magazine, The World Tomorrow, in 1918. In 1921-22 he was associate editor of The Nation, and, also in 1922, he became co-director of the League for Industrial Democracy. He was later one of the founders of the National Civil Liberties Bureau (the precursor of the American Civil Liberties Union) and of the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy. At first Thomas was outspoken in opposing the U.S. involvement in the Second World War, and he served on the board of the America First Committee. However, once the United States was attacked by the Japanese, he supported U.S. war effort, while opposing the war-time incarceration of Japanese Americans. Thomas frequently spoke on the difference between democratic socialism and Communism; his early admiration for the Russian Revolution and later sympathy with Popular Front activity evolved into fervent anti-Communism. He wrote several books, among them his defense of World War I conscientious objectors, Is Conscience a Crime? (1927) and Socialism Re-examined (1963).

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Role	Title	Holding Repository
referencedIn	A Collection of autographs in the Goucher College Library.	Goucher College, Goucher College Library
referencedIn	A. Philip Randolph Papers, 1909-1979, (bulk 1941-1968)	Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn	Alexander, Robert J. (Robert Jackson), 1918-2010. Papers, 1934-1969.	Rutgers University
referencedIn	Alexander, Robert J. (Robert Jackson), 1918-2010. Robert Jackson Alexander papers, 1890-1999 (bulk 1945-1999).	Rutgers University
referencedIn	Alfred Mitchell Bingham and the Common Sense collection, 1905-1979	Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn	Allen, Corinne Marie Tuckerman, 1856-1931. Papers, 1896-1927 (inclusive).	Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn	Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. General Secretary-Treasurer. Joseph Schlossberg correspondence, 1930-1940.	Cornell University Library
referencedIn	American Birth Control League records, 1917-1934.	Houghton Library
referencedIn	American Council for Judaism. Records, 1943-1988.	Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn	American Fund for Public Service records, 1922-1941	New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division

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Relation	Name
associatedWith	Albertson, Dean, 1920-,
associatedWith	Alexander, Robert J. (Robert Jackson), 1918-2010.
associatedWith	Allen, Corinne Marie Tuckerman, 1856-1931.
associatedWith	Allen, Devere, 1891-1955.
associatedWith	Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. General Secretary-Treasurer.
associatedWith	American Birth Control League.
associatedWith	American Civil Liberties Union.
associatedWith	American Committee for Cultural Freedom.
associatedWith	American Council for Judaism.
associatedWith	American Fund for Public Service.