Projects

Ink to Paper: Exploring the Advancement of Letter Writing and its Uses

Wall installation for an exhibit. Six images of patents for a quill pen, fountain pen, ballpoint pen, and typewriters.

Physical exhibit Thompson designed at the Madison County Historical Society of Edwardsville, Illinois, in 2020. The exhibit examined the neglected craft of letter writing and the technology used to write them. The exhibit utilized contextual placards and physical artifacts, including letters from the Flagg family and technology such as a typewriter donated to the MCHS’s historical home project.

You can find an article MCHS wrote on the exhibit here: https://madcohistory.org/historical-museum-exhibit-letter-writing/

Glass Table Showcase with Handwritten and Typed Letters from the Flagg Family from Madison County. These letters are personal correspondence between family and friends.
Handwritten and Typed Personal Correspondence from the Flagg Family.
Glass Table Showcase with Handwritten and Typed Letters from the Flagg Family from Madison County. These letters pertain to business correspondence.
Glass Table Showcase with Handwritten and Typed business correspondence from the Flagg Family.
Picture of a large display case. The documents inside pertain to different aspects of paper, like watermarks and letterheads and also a section on stamps.
Large display case discussing watermarks, letterheads, and stamps.
Close up of the Watermarks and Letterheads section of the large display case.
Close-up of the Watermarks and Letterheads section of the large display case.
Close-up of a museum panel that discusses how letters represent a past world for historians to explore.
Close-up of a museum panel that discusses how letters represent a past world for historians to explore.
Close-up of the Stamp section of the large display case.
Close-up of the Stamp section of the large display case.
Close-up of a panel that discusses the creation of the typewriter.
Close-up of a panel that discusses the creation of the typewriter.
A later-generation Remington typewriter in a glass case.
A later-generation Remington typewriter in a glass case.
A museum panel discussing the creation of rag paper and how it is identified. It also discusses how rag paper was used in the American Civil War to save the Platner & Smith Paper company.
A museum panel discussing the creation of rag paper and how it is identified. It also discusses how rag paper was used in the American Civil War to save the Platner & Smith Paper company.
Museum Panel discussing the history of the fountain pen and the advancement of writing devices.
Museum Panel discussing the history of the fountain pen and the advancement of writing devices.
A glass table showcase with artifacts that discuss the mail service and include an artifact that the Madison County Historical Society is preserving from the American Civil War.
A glass table showcase with artifacts that discuss the mail service and include an artifact that the Madison County Historical Society is preserving from the American Civil War.
photos of different writing tools hang from the ceiling
Wall installation for an exhibit. Six images of patents for writing technology.
Glass Table Showcase with Handwritten and Typed Letters from the Flagg Family from Madison County. These letters are personal correspondence between family and friends.
Glass Table Showcase with Handwritten and Typed Letters from the Flagg Family from Madison County. These letters pertain to business correspondence.
Picture of a large display case. The documents inside pertain to different aspects of paper, like watermarks and letterheads and also a section on stamps.
Close up of the Watermarks and Letterheads section of the large display case.
Close-up of a museum panel that discusses how letters represent a past world for historians to explore.
Close-up of the Stamp section of the large display case.
Close-up of a panel that discusses the creation of the typewriter.
A later-generation Remington typewriter in a glass case.
A museum panel discussing the creation of rag paper and how it is identified. It also discusses how rag paper was used in the American Civil War to save the Platner & Smith Paper company.
Museum Panel discussing the history of the fountain pen and the advancement of writing devices.
A glass table showcase with artifacts that discuss the mail service and include an artifact that the Madison County Historical Society is preserving from the American Civil War.
photos of different writing tools hang from the ceiling

Old Man River’s City Revisited

Digital exhibit that two other graduate students and Thompson designed for the Practicum in Exhibition course at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Covid-19 forced them to move an original plan of a physical exhibit online. The focus of the exhibit was Buckminster Fuller and the Old Man River City project, which was planned to help revitalize East St. Louis. Thompson’s main focus for the exhibit was conducting phone interviews with the Washington University students who assisted Fuller in designing the project that ultimately failed.

You can still explore the digital exhibit at: https://iris.siue.edu/scalar/omr/index

Picture of Buckminster Fuller in the foreground with the famous paneled picture of the dome's diorama and several members of the community in the background. Provided by the Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville Museum.
Two men stand in front of the large paneled image of the Old Man River's City Project at the Mary Brown Center for the February 1971 event. Photo lent to the SIUE University Museum by Dennis Cope.
Members of the East St. Louis Community at the Mary Brown Center Event
Members of the design team gather for a candid photograph at the Mary Brown Center event. From left to right: Jaturapat Israngkul, Chris Grubbs, Bill Wischmeyer, James Fitzgibbon, Buckminster Fuller, Margaret Fitzgibbon, Tom Thomson, Marge Miller (Brownstein), Carl Safe, Gordon Wittenberg. (Credit to Bill Wischmeyer and John Guenther for the image)
Photo of Design Team at the Mary Brown Center
Original Schematic for the Onion-Like Dome as designed by the team at Washington University. Image donated by Carl Safe.
Original Schematic for the Onion-Like Dome
An image of the responsive design made by Washington University students and faculty in 1972. The "Umbrella Dome" as it was called, resembled a contact lens arching over the city and not connecting to the ground with a new interior that resembled a "Moon Crater." Members of the design team have mentioned that this new design largely defeated the dome's purpose of energy efficiency. This image was graciously lent by the design team of the project.
Diorama of the early Umbrella Dome Idea
Title and list of people involved with the OMR design development group. It reads "Old Man River, An Environmental Domed City, A Concept Design for East St. Louis, Illinois, by R. Buckminster Fuller. Design Development Group; James W. Fitzgibbon AIA, Carl B. Safe, Thomas Thomas, William P. Wischmeyer, Jaturapat Israngkul, Marjorie Ann Miller, Gordon Wittenberg Jr., Christopher A. Grubbs, Kathleen Page, David Jordan, Photos.
Sign for the Old Man River design development group.
Newspaper Front Page of the Metro-East Journal from February 26, 1971. Articles by John Schaeffer and Rube Yelvington both outline Fullers ideology and design concept for the Old Man River City Project.
Newspaper Front Page of the Metro-East Journal from February 26, 1971.
Members of the design team gather for a candid photograph at the Mary Brown Center event. From left to right: Jaturapat Israngkul, Chris Grubbs, Bill Wischmeyer, James Fitzgibbon, Buckminster Fuller, Margaret Fitzgibbon, Tom Thomson, Marge Miller (Brownstein), Carl Safe, Gordon Wittenberg. (Credit to Bill Wischmeyer and John Guenther for the image)
R. Buckminster Fuller and Katherine Dunham
Picture of Fuller in the foreground with the famous paneled picture of the dome's diorama and several members of the community in the background. Provided by the Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville Museum.
Mr. Buckminster Fuller with his domed city design
Two men stand in front of the large paneled image of the Old Man River's City Project at the Mary Brown Center for the February 1971 event. Photo lent to the SIUE University Museum by Dennis Cope.
Members of the design team gather for a candid photograph at the Mary Brown Center event. From left to right: Jaturapat Israngkul, Chris Grubbs, Bill Wischmeyer, James Fitzgibbon, Buckminster Fuller, Margaret Fitzgibbon, Tom Thomson, Marge Miller (Brownstein), Carl Safe, Gordon Wittenberg. (Credit to Bill Wischmeyer and John Guenther for the image)
Original Schematic for the Onion-Like Dome as designed by the team at Washington University. Image donated by Carl Safe.
An image of the responsive design made by Washington University students and faculty in 1972. The "Umbrella Dome" as it was called, resembled a contact lens arching over the city and not connecting to the ground with a new interior that resembled a "Moon Crater." Members of the design team have mentioned that this new design largely defeated the dome's purpose of energy efficiency. This image was graciously lent by the design team of the project.
Title and list of people involved with the OMR design development group. It reads "Old Man River, An Environmental Domed City, A Concept Design for East St. Louis, Illinois, by R. Buckminster Fuller. Design Development Group; James W. Fitzgibbon AIA, Carl B. Safe, Thomas Thomas, William P. Wischmeyer, Jaturapat Israngkul, Marjorie Ann Miller, Gordon Wittenberg Jr., Christopher A. Grubbs, Kathleen Page, David Jordan, Photos.
Newspaper Front Page of the Metro-East Journal from February 26, 1971. Articles by John Schaeffer and Rube Yelvington both outline Fullers ideology and design concept for the Old Man River City Project.
Members of the design team gather for a candid photograph at the Mary Brown Center event. From left to right: Jaturapat Israngkul, Chris Grubbs, Bill Wischmeyer, James Fitzgibbon, Buckminster Fuller, Margaret Fitzgibbon, Tom Thomson, Marge Miller (Brownstein), Carl Safe, Gordon Wittenberg. (Credit to Bill Wischmeyer and John Guenther for the image)
Picture of Fuller in the foreground with the famous paneled picture of the dome's diorama and several members of the community in the background. Provided by the Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville Museum.

The Shade of the Magnolia

Picture of the James Meredith Monument at the University of Mississippi.

“The Shade of the Magnolia: How Public History and the Memory Landscape Interact with Monuments to the Lost and Won Causes at Mississippi’s Public Universities” was the Master’s thesis Thompson finished in 2021. This project examined the influence of the Institutions of Higher Learning on the monuments dedicated to the Lost and Won Cause present on three of Mississippi’s public college campuses: Alcorn State, Mississippi State University, and the University of Mississippi.

If you want to explore this thesis, please contact Mr. Thompson directly and he can send you a copy.

Transportation Case Study

Robin Hall and Thompson conducted a case study examining the accessibility and racialized spaces within the public transportation system of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This research was undertaken as part of the Public History Seminar course in the graduate program at Middle Tennessee State University. The primary focus of Thompson’s research involved investigating the racial history of Murfreesboro and its connection to public transportation.

A presentation board discussing statistics and narratives exploring the Transportation system of Murfreesboro, Tennessee and its history as a racialized space.