UUM_Accn2595.xml Inventory of the Joan Thomas papers Thomas (Joan) papers Finding aid created by Betsey Welland. J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections

2022
295 South 1500 East Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 Business Number: 801-581-8863 special@library.utah.edu https://lib.utah.edu/collections/special-collections/index.php
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-01-02. Finding aid written in English. Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), 2nd Edition. J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Joan Thomas papers Thomas, Joan, 1934- ACCN 2595 35.75 linear feet 44 boxes 1893-2014 The Joan Thomas papers (1893-2014) contain personal materials along with prose and poerty. The collection also contains materials related to her relationship with Ammon Hennacy and their focus on pacifism and workers' rights. Included are numerous drawings created by Thomas. English

Josephine Ann Thomas was born October 1, 1934 in Inglewood, California. She married Hennacy in 1965 and, after the death of Ammon in 1970, Joan moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Thomas was a prolific poet, writer and artist. She is best known for her book The Years of Grief and Laughter: A "Biography" of Ammon Hennacy.

Ammon Ashford Hennacy was born July 24, 1893, in Negley, Ohio. He was a member of the Catholic Worker Movement and a Wobbly. He established the "Joe Hill House of Hospitality" in Salt Lake City, Utah and practiced tax resistance. He studied a year each at Ohio State University, Hiram College in Ohio, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the outbreak of WWI Hennacy was imprisoned for 2 years in Atlanta, Georgia for resisting conscription. In 1953 he moved to New York and became editor of the Catholic Worker, moving to Utah in 1961. Hennacy died January 14, 1970, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Joan Thomas papers (1893-2014) contain personal materials along with prose and poerty. The collection also contains materials related to her relationship with Ammon Hennacy and their focus on pacifism and workers' rights. Included are numerous drawings created by Thomas.

The collection is arranged into the following series: 1. Personal and family materials; 2. IWW Organization records; 3. Writings and artwork; 4. Books; and 5. Oversize materials.

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this Collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Donated by Joan Thomas in 2003, 2004, 2009, 2013.

Bulk of the collection donated by Joan Thomas via the University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center in 2011.

Processed by Julia Huddleston.

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Photographs and audio-visual materials were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.

See also the Ammon Hennacy papers (MS 0555) in the Manuscripts Division of Special Collections.

 Thomas, Joan, 1934---Archives Hennacy, Ammon, 1893-1970--Archives Maclean, Leon, 1930-2008--Archives Billings, Warren K., 1893-1972 Billings, Josephine Rudolph Thompson, Fred, 1900-1987 Industrial Workers of the World Labor Unions--Archives Labor leaders--Archives Women labor leaders--Archives Labor movement--United States Women in the labor movement--Archives Political activists--Archives Anarchists--Archives Employee rights Pacifism--United States Labor Unions Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.) Personal correspondence Diaries Poetry Drawings Autobiographies Biographies Personal and family materials 1 Letters used in The Green Girl is Old 1893-1979 1 1 Thomas letters used in The Green Girl is Old 1929-2000 1 2 Correspondence 1931-2002 1 3 Correspondence 1947-1990 1 4 Correspondence, Hugh Craigmyle 1964-1966 1 5 Correspondence, Ellis "Dan" Boone 1981-1984 1 6 Correspondence, Jesse Garcia and Ed Hale 1990-1996 1 7 Correspondence, Jesse Garcia 1993-2008 1 8 Holiday cards, Joan Thomas to Ben Hart 1950-1956 2 1 Greeting cards, Ben Hart 1951-1954 2 2 Greeting cards 1988-2008 2 3-7 Correspondence from Ammon Hennacy to family 1919-1969 3 1-3 Correspondence from and to Ammon Hennacy 1955-1968 3 4 Postcards from Ammon Hennacy to family 1955-1968 3 5-6 Journal 1978 4 1 Journal 1982 4 2 Journal 1982-1985 4 3 Journal 1985-1988 4 4 Journal 1988-1991 4 5 Journal 1991-1992 4 6 Journal 1992-1993 4 7 Journal 1993-1994 4 8 Journal 1994-1996 4 9 Journal 1996-2000 5 1 Journal 2000-20058 5 2 Journals, Joe Craigmyle 1944 1982 5 3 Journal, Bess Thomas 1979-1988 5 4 Correspondence 1969-1975 6 1 Copies of photos, Thomas family 1914-2000 6 2 S.W. Thomas, St. Louis Park High School materials 1914-1916 6 3 Receipts and travel itineraires 1939-1960s 6 4 Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf 1938 6 5 Children's Bible stories 1943 1947 6 6 High school diploma 1952 6 7 Marriage licences 1954-1984 6 8 University of Minnesota commencement program 1956 6 9 Indian information used in The Green Girl is Old 1960 6 10 Sheet music written by Eugene Thomas 1962-1968 6 11-12 Legal documents 1964-2003 6 13 Name change paperwork 1965 6 14 Wills of Sid and Bess Thomas 1971 6 15 Copyright application 1974-1981 6 16 University of Wyoming Special Collections, bill of sale 1978 6 17 Family notes 1983-1993 6 18 Health information and list of etchings 1989-1992 6 19 Poems by Anne Craigmyle 1996-2001 6 20 Review by Karl Meyer of The Years of Grief and Laughter 1975 7 1 Reviews of Joan Thomas' writings 1975-1995 7 2 Joe Hill postage stamp 1980 7 3 Drawings and poems by Anne Craigmyle 1986-1991 7 4 Memorials for Barbara Hood and Jeneen Ball 1993 7 5 Memorial papers 1998-1999 7 6 Response to criticism of the biography of Ammon Hennacy 2000 7 7 Drawings and correspondence by Dana Reafield 2002-2003 7 8 Llwyd Waton trip journal 2003 7 9 Ethel Hale, "The Disappearance of Jesus Maria Garcia" 2004 7 10 Tucson Talk 2008 7 11 Cartons by George Jartos 7 12 Ammon Hennacy papers "A Souvenir of Lisbon" 1913 8 1 Political pamphlets and writings 1920s-1960s 8 2 Ephemera 1922-1967 8 3 Autobiography of a Catholic Anarchist, Ammon Hennacy 1954 8 4 Two Agitators, Peter Maurin and Ammon Hennacy 1959 8 5 First National Directory of "Rightist" Groups 1962 8 6 Book and letter to Julia Mayberry 1966 8 7

Includes The Book of Ammon, by Ammon Hennacy and protest flyers.

 Mourn Not the Dead draft 8 8 Preface intended for Fort Kamp's edition of The Book of Ammon 8 9 Memorials 1970 8 10 Ellis V. "Dan" Boone, last will and testament 1983 9 1 Stories by Joe Craigmyle 1958-1959 9 2 Joe Craigmyle and parents, Hugh and Daisy: wills and insurance 1974-1986 9 3 Arizona Highways 1960 9 4 Leon R. Maclean, personal papers 1940-1997 9 5 Leon R. Maclean, army records 1948-1988 9 6 Leon R. Maclean, IWW membership books 1959-1992 9 7 Leon R. Maclean, union cards 1971-2001 9 8 Leon R. Maclean, will and memorial 1986 2008 9 9-10 Painting by Annie Rudolph 1918 9 11 "Packardgram" 1993-1996 9 12 "Old Cars Weekly" 1986 9 13 Paintings by Annie Maclean 1919 9 14 IWW Organization records 2 Leon R. Maclean, correspondence 1972-1991 10 1 General organizational board correspondence 1970-2003 10 2 Fred Thompson and Henry Miller materials 1985-2003 10 3 Organizing information 1986-2001 10 4 General organizational bulletins 1991-2001 10 5 Industrial Worker 1976-2000 10 6 Songbooks 1970-1984 11 1 Publications 1970-1990 11 2 Labor calendars 1986-2003 11 3 Warren Knox Billings FBI files 12 1-4 Josephine and Warren Knox Billings FBI files 1986-1988 12 5-6 Radical publications 1938-1967 13 1 Retort 1952 13 2 The Miscellaneous Man 1954 13 3 Radical publications 1960-2004 13 4 Anarchy 1963-1967 13 5 Way 1979 13 6 News clippings 1950s-1998 13 7-9 Writings and artwork 3 Poetry and drawings 1964-1979 14 1-6 List of paintings 1969 14 7 Short stories 1964 14 8 "Integrity, Cars and My Father" 1972 14 9 Letters and geneology information used in The Green Girl is Old 2000-2002 14 10 The Green Girl is Old 2005 14 11 "Annie and Pixie-Wheat, Pixie Oat and Pixie-Rye" 1973 15 1 "The Artic Fox" by Tracy Benton 15 2 Ashes on the Mountains: A Memoir for Leon Maclean draft 2008 15 3 Belinda by Lupe Montana 15 4 Big Orangey 15 5 Bravo and the Singing Owl 1967 15 6 The Captain and the Dragon 1963 15 7 Chaos and Grace 15 8 Chaos and Grace 16 1 The Daddy-God 16 2-4 The Dying of Dave Crockett 1983 16 5 The Dying of Dave Crockett 1983 17 1-4 El Monte de la Muerte 17 5 El Monte de la Muerte 18 1 "For a Father Who Died of Cancer," a narrative in "prose-poem" form 18 2 The Fortune Teller 18 3-4 "Grass-the-Hopper's Circus" 18 5 The Green Girl is Old 18 6-7 Heartstops on the Mountain 19 1-2 Homage to Roads and Mountains 19 3-4 Homage to Roads and Mountains 20 1 In the Arms of Satan 1971 20 2 Joe: A Space Odyssey Autobiography, Joseph Craigmyle and Joan Thomas 20 3-4 Joshua and Uncle Vic 20 5 Journal of Cancer 1982 21 1 A Journal of Forty Recalled Days 1978 21 2-5 The Last Offering 2012 21 6 The Least of These: A Biography of Ammon Hennacy 22 1-5 The Least of These: A Biography of Ammon Hennacy 23 1-3 "Leppy's Rainbow" 23 4 The Lion's Leg 2004-2005 23 5 The Lion's Leg 2004-2005 24 1 A Lion's Story: An Autobiography 24 2-4 A Lion's Story: An Autobiography 25 1 "The Meaning Bird" 25 2 Nun-Dreams 25 3 The Picara 25 4-5 Pixie and Blueberry 25 6 "A Pocket Full of Dog, a Pocket Full of Cat" 26 1 "Poems of the Small Mountains" 2005 26 2 Poems of the Years 2001 26 3-4 Q11 and 12: A Mystery Novel 26 5-6 The Rapist 27 1 She Came from the Mountains 27 2-3 Some of the Adventures of Big Orangey 27 4 A Spiritual Life from a Comic View 1985-2001 27 5-6 A Spiritual Life from a Comic View 1985-2001 28 1-5 A Spiritual Life from a Comic View 1985-2001 29 1-2 The Stallions 1969 1976 29 3-5 The Strays of Karen Kane 30 1-4 "To Write or Not to Write" 2014 30 5 "The Toy Mender," by Tracy Benton 30 6 "Tubby Gun and the Gorbs" 1963 30 7 "The Voices of Eve" poem scrapbook 1957 30 8 The Years of Grief and Laughter 30 9 The Years of Grief and Laughter 31 1-2 Warren K. Billings: The Story of a Rebel oral history 1957 31 3-4 The Watcher 1968 31 5 The Watcher 1968 32 1 The White Widow and the Tao of Not-Knowing 2008-2009 32 2 The Wounded Rattlesnake 32 3 Books 4 Bahuroopee Gandhi, Anu Bandyopadhyaya 1964-1967 33 1 Bars and Shadows: The Prison Poems, Ralph Chaplin 1922 33 2 Cent Per Cent Swadeshi, M.K. Gandhi 1958 33 3 The Disinherited, Jack Conroy 1963 33 4 Gandi in Chanparan, D.G. Tendulkar 1957 33 5 Gandhi on Non-Violence, Thomas Merton 1965 33 6 Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, M.K. Gandhi 1946 33 7 Man or the State?, Waldo R. Browne 1919 33 8 The Message of Jesus Christ, M.K. Gandhi 1963 33 9 On the Boss's Time" Shop Poems and Other Poems, George Bratt 1958-1959 34 1 Rebel Voices: An IWW Anthology, Joyce L. Kornbluh 1964 34 2 Sermon of the Sea, Mahatma Gandhi 1924 34 3 Singing Jailbirds, Upton Sinclair 1924 34 4-5 Socialism of My Conception, M.K. Gandhi 1966 34 6 Women and Social Injustice, M.K. Gandhi 1967 34 7 Oversize materials 5 Drawings and poetry 1949-1969 35 Drawings and poetry 1951-1965 36 Drawings and poetry 1961-1965 37 Drawings and poetry 1968-1975 38 Drawings and poetry 1970-1974 39 Drawings and poetry 1970-1971 1975-1976 40 Drawings and poetry 1972-1975 41 Drawings and poetry 1965-1970 42 Drawings and poetry 1966-1977 43 Drawings and poetry 1969 44