Thomas H. Pope papers, 1935-1999.

ArchivalResource

Pope, Thomas H., 1913-. Thomas H. Pope papers, 1935-1999.

Thomas H. Pope papers, 1935-1999.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/643346044

Correspondence, research notes, and other papers reflecting Pope's career in the General Assembly, as an attorney and judge, research notes as a published historian, and his active involvement with various colleges and universities, historical organizations, and other groups around and beyond South Carolina. As World War II hostilities loomed, Pope served in the Officers Reserve Corps until September 1939, when he was commissioned a captain in the South Carolina National Guard and placed in command of a regiment he helped organize in Newberry, S.C., which later became the 107th Separate Coast Artillery Battalion (Antiaircraft). He saw duty in North Africa and in Sicily, where in 1943 he received a battlefield promotion to lieutenant colonel from Gen. George Patton. Pope helped reorganize the 107th at the start of the Korean War. He graduated from the Command and General Staff College in 1951 and was promoted to colonel, commanding the 208th AAA Group. He then served as president of the South Carolina National Guard Association. In 1957 he was promoted to brigadier general, retired. The improvement of South Carolina's education system was a cause Pope worked for throughout his life. In the legislature he lobbied for the formation of a Commission on Higher Education, and education was an important platform in his bid for governor. Later he served on boards for his alma maters, The Citadel and USC Law School, and for Newberry College and the University of the South (Sewanee, Tenn.). He served as a member of the Governor's Task Force to study public education in 1955 and as a member of the Governor's Advisory Committee on Higher Education in 1961. Pope served as a member of the South Carolina Tricentennial Commission and at different times throughout his career was active on the governing boards of the South Carolina Historical Society, the University South Caroliniana Society, the Newberry County Historical Society, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

52.5 linear ft. (42 cartons)

University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries