Fleming, Thomas Papers

Dates: 1912-1996

Historian, novelist, and assistant to Margaret Truman

The Thomas Fleming Papers contain manuscript drafts, correspondence, printed materials, research notes, interview transcripts, and other items relating to Fleming's work as an assistant to Margaret Truman in the writing of her best-selling biography Harry S. Truman and other historical works.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 10 linear feet, 6 linear inches (about 19,200 pages).
Access: Open, with the exception of a few items that are closed for reasons of national security.
Copyright: The donor gave his copyright interest in unpublished writings in this collection to the United States of America.
Processed by: Randy Sowell, Jim Armistead (2016-2017).


[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1927 (July 5)

 

Born Thomas James Fleming, Jersey City, New Jersey

1950

 

Received Bachelor's degree from Fordham University

1960

 

Publication of first book, Now We Are Enemies

1960-2015

 

Author of more than fifty histories, biographies, and novels

1972

 

Publication of Harry S. Truman, a biography written by Margaret Truman with Fleming's assistance

1976

 

Publication of Women of Courage, an historical study written by Margaret Truman with Fleming's assistance

1986

 

Publication of Bess W. Truman, a biography written by Margaret Truman with Fleming's assistance

1995

 

Publication of First Ladies, an historical study written by Margaret Truman with Fleming's assistance

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The Thomas Fleming Papers consist of manuscript drafts, correspondence, printed materials, research notes, interview transcripts, and other items relating to Fleming's work as an assistant to Margaret Truman in the writing of four books: Harry S. Truman (1972), Women of Courage (1976), Bess W. Truman (1986), and First Ladies (1995). The collection is arranged in four series, one for each of the books on which Truman and Fleming worked together.

The first series, the Harry S. Truman File, contains information concerning the life of President Truman and the research and writing of Margaret Truman's best-selling biography of her father. The series includes several drafts of the manuscript; transcripts and notes of interviews with Mr. Truman, Margaret Truman, and others; correspondence relating to the writing and publication of the book; copies of documents and printed materials that were used as sources; press clippings; research notes; and other items.

The second series, the Women of Courage File, contains information about a second literary project undertaken by Truman and Fleming: a study of the lives of twelve important women in the history of the United States. The series includes copies of documents and printed materials relating to the women; correspondence concerning the book; a draft of the manuscript; interview notes; photographs; and other items.

The third series, the Bess W. Truman File, contains information concerning the life of Mrs. Truman and the research and writing of Margaret Truman's biography of her mother. In addition to drafts of the manuscript, the series includes press clippings and other printed materials; research notes; correspondence relating to the writing and publication of the book; and other items.

The fourth series, the First Ladies File, contains information about the last book Fleming and Margaret Truman worked on together, a study of first ladies over the course of American history. The series includes sound recordings and notes of interviews conducted by the authors with Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan, Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford, and Lady Bird Johnson. Also included are extensive press clippings; other printed materials that were used as sources; photographs; research notes; and drafts of the manuscript.

Related collections at the Truman Library include the papers of Margaret Truman Daniel and E. Clifton Daniel.

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1-10

  HARRY S. TRUMAN FILE, 1935-1972
Manuscript drafts, correspondence, notes, printed materials, interview transcripts, and other items. Arranged alphabetically.

11-12

  WOMEN OF COURAGE FILE, 1912-1976
Manuscript drafts, correspondence, printed materials, notes, and other items. Arranged alphabetically.

13-18

  BESS W. TRUMAN FILE, 1934-1986
Manuscript drafts, photographs, printed materials, correspondence, notes, and other items. Arranged alphabetically.

19-24

  FIRST LADIES FILE, 1945-1996
Manuscript drafts, printed materials, photographs, interview notes and transcripts, and other items. Arranged alphabetically.
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

FOLDER TITLE LIST

HARRY S. TRUMAN FILE, 1934-1972

Box 1

  • Acheson, Dean
  • Acknowledgements
  • "A Special on Harry S. Truman"
  • Atomic Bomb and Atomic Energy
  • Bibliography
  • Bibliography from Truman Library
  • Bintner, Stuart: "Clark Clifford and the 1948 Presidential Campaign"
  • Book List for Mark Newman
  • Books and Microfilm
  • Books to Be Consulted
  • Campaign, 1940
  • Churchill, Winston
  • Clifford, Clark: Interview
  • Clifford, Clark: Memoranda to the President
  • Corrections
  • Corrections from First Block
  • Correspondence [1 of 2]
  • Correspondence [2 of 2]
  • Coughlin, Father Charles
  • Dawson, Donald: Interview
  • Democratic National Convention, 1944: Research Notes from the New York Times

Box 2

  • Dissertations and Theses
  • Early Appraisal of Truman
  • Early Memories
  • Early, Stephen
  • Eisenhower, Dwight D.
  • Elsey, George
  • Elsey, George: Oral History Interviews
  • Elsey, George: Papers
  • Ending
  • Fact Checking
  • Farley, James: Interview
  • Financial Records
  • Final Cuts
  • Final Inserts
  • Final Queries
  • First Senate Campaign
  • Forrestal, James
  • Fortune Articles
  • Galleys: Sidebars [1 of 2]

Box 3

  • Galleys: Sidebars [2 of 2]
  • Gardner, Lloyd: "On Robert Maddox's The New Left and the Origins of the Cold War"
  • Handwriting and Doodles
  • Handwritten Notes
  • Hersey, John: New Yorker Articles
  • History
  • Hoover, Herbert
  • Hoover, J. Edgar
  • Horowitz, David: Reply to Robert Maddox's The New Left and the Origins of the Cold War
  • Inauguration, 1945
  • Index
  • Inserts
  • Inserts: 1948
  • Japan
  • Journal Articles
  • Liberalism: Truman Definition
  • Life Articles
  • Life, December 1, 1972

Box 4

  • Manuscript Draft I [1 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft I [2 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft I [3 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft I [4 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft I [5 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft I [6 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft I [7 of 7]

Box 5

  • Manuscript Draft II [1 of 6]
  • Manuscript Draft II [2 of 6]
  • Manuscript Draft II [3 of 6]
  • Manuscript Draft II [4 of 6]
  • Manuscript Draft II [5 of 6]
  • Manuscript Draft II [6 of 6]
  • Manuscript Draft III [1 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft III [2 of 7]

Box 6

  • Manuscript Draft III [3 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft III [4 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft III [5 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft III [6 of 7]
  • Manuscript Draft III [7 of 7]
  • Manuscript Pages [1 of 2]
  • Manuscript Pages [2 of 2]
  • McKim, Edward
  • McReynolds, Edwin: Missouri: A History of the Crossroads State
  • Memoirs by Harry S. Truman
  • Memoirs by Harry S. Truman: Discussions

Box 7

  • Muehlebach Hotel
  • Murphy, Charles
  • Murphy, Charles: Interview
  • Murphy, Charles: Speech at the Harry S. Truman Library, April 1, 1967
  • My Comments on Block Notes
  • NANA [North American Newspaper Alliance]: Articles by Harry S. Truman, 1957-1965 [1 of 2]
  • NANA [North American Newspaper Alliance]: Articles by Harry S. Truman, 1957-1965 [2 of