{"value"=>"<p>Norman Thomas was a life-long member of the ACLU from its inception as the Civil Liberties Bureau of the American Union Against Militarism and served on its Board of Directors until 1958. He was active on committees investigating problems such as academic freedom, conscientious objection, censorship, radio and television broadcasting, and the civil rights of racial and political minorities, military personnel, and labor union members.</p> <p>The subseries includes correspondence (File II: B: 1), about both Union policy and individual cases, with ACLU staff, legal counsel, and such prominent members as Roger Baldwin, John Haynes Holmes, Arthur Garfield Hays, Harry F. Ward, Corliss and Margaret Lamont, and Morris Ernst. The file also includes the many letters that Thomas received from rank and file members and the general public expressing opinions on ACLU actions or suggesting cases requiring ACLU intervention.</p> <p>Files II: B: 2 and II: B: 3 include minutes, reports, and resolutions of ACLU committees, membership lists, weekly bulletins, and short publications issued by the Union.</p> <p>Files II: B: 4 through II: B: 8 contain correspondence, fund-raising letters, petitions, advertisements, memoranda, mailing lists, press clippings and other materials pertaining to civil liberties cases that were not handled by the ACLU but which Thomas felt deserved active support. The correspondence within each file is chronological and contains communications between Thomas and other members of the \"defense committees\", as well as with his friends and other prominent liberals whose support and financial help he solicited for these cases. Drafts and final copies of publicity material, petitions, and other supporting material follow the correspondence. The Ciepley-Rappaport Case, File II: B: 4, concerns the lawsuit brought by two tool and die makers protesting their expulsion from the International Association of Machinists. Thomas chaired the Ciepley-Rappaport Legal Fund to raise money for the prosecution of the case. Files II: B: 5 through II: B: 7 document Thomas' attempts to help members of the Communist Party of America arrested under the Smith Act of 1940. File II: B: 8 concerns the drafting of a petition to be signed by non-communists protesting the McCarran Act (Subversive Activities Control Act) and the gathering of signatures for that petition.</p>"}