Thurman Adams, Jr., papers

The Thurman Adams, Jr., papers chronicle the personal and professional life of the longest-serving senator (a Democrat from the 19th District) in the history of the Delaware General Assembly.

The collection, which spans the years 1939 to 2012, is arranged into four series: Political career, Awards, Personal and family papers, and the University of Delaware.

Series I. Political career, contains material related to Adams's service on the Delaware State Highway Commission, his numerous election campaigns, his tenure as a state senator, and material related to several Delaware governors.

His legislative career is documented by copies of Senate and House bills, memoranda, legislative guides, newspaper clippings, editorial pieces and political cartoons, drafts of speeches, and judiciary nomination papers. Materials related to his work on legislation include such issues as organ donation, Delaware electric co-op, taxes, and properties.

The Thurman Adams, Jr., papers also highlight how lawmakers balanced duties in the legislature with frequent re-election campaigns. Part of the first series is devoted entirely to materials related to Adams’s election campaigns for the 19th District Delaware State Senate seat. The bulk of the materials are from Adams’s first campaign in 1972 and his first re-election campaign in 1974. Campaign materials include advertisements in local media outlets, including receipts and notes for radio broadcasts, newspaper clippings related to the elections, several maps of the 19th District, polling lists, campaign buttons, and compilations of final results for some general elections. For the most part, the correspondence related to these elections congratulated Adams for his election victories and was written by friends, family, and colleagues.

Series I. also comprises correspondence and papers relating to various Delaware and United States government officials, which provide the researcher with evidence of how state and federal lawmakers maintained professional relationships. There is also correspondence written to Adams from constituents related to a variety of legislative and local issues, as well as correspondence spanning more than forty years from members of the Delaware General Assembly, the Delaware Office of the Governor, the Delaware state court system, and the United States government.

Notable correspondents include Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, and Delaware governors Pierre S. Du Pont, Michael Castle, Thomas Carper, and Ruth Ann Minner. The letters written by U.S. Senator (later Vice President) Joseph R. Biden to Thurman Adams, Jr. and his wife Hilda convey their long term friendship.

Series I. also includes pieces of Delaware ephemera, such as campaign and political memorabilia from Delaware government officials and organizations.

Series II. Awards, consists of citations, certificates, plaques, trophies and artwork awarded to Thurman Adams for his outstanding contributions to the State of Delaware and to his community. Included among the files are two tributes read into the Congressional Record by U.S. Congressman Mike Castle, who served with Adams in the State Senate from 1972-1976. There are also awards from the Sons of the American Revolution; the Council of State Governments; Delaware Police Chiefs Council; the towns of Milton and Georgetown, Delaware; the Delaware Farm Bureau; Delaware Health & Social Services; the Delaware State Bar Association; and numerous other organizations.

Series III. Personal and family papers, comprises papers and materials related to some aspects of the personal life of Thurman Adams, Jr., and his family. This small group of material includes biographical information, materials related to Adams’s studies with the Dale Carnegie correspondence school, and some correspondence from family and friends. There are also documents regarding Adams’s involvement in civic and professional organizations such as the Freemasons, the Kappa Alpha Fraternity, and the Union United Methodist Church in Bridgeville, Delaware.

Series IV. University of Delaware, consists of materials related to Adam's undergraduate years at the University of Delaware. Two class notebooks from courses taken by Adams and items which highlight Adams’s collegiate career on the men’s lacrosse team, including Adams’s team helmet, a team photograph, and varsity letter certificates, are available in the collection. In 1996, the University of Delaware honored Adams with the University of Delaware Medal of Distinction, which along with photographs of the ceremony, are included in these papers.