J. FRANKLIN THACKREY PAPERS
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
West Branch, Iowa
The papers of J. Franklin Thackrey, longtime Director of Economic Information with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, consist of 5 linear feet of correspondence, memoranda and reports that were donated to the Hoover Presidential Library by Thackrey’s family in 1992.
John Franklin Thackrey was born on December 16, 1910 in Kansas City, Kansas. At an early age, his family moved to Manhattan, Kansas, where Thackrey later enrolled as a student at Kansas State University (then known as Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science). Thackrey studied journalism at Kansas State, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1933 and a master’s degree in 1934. Following his studies, Thackrey worked for a year as a reporter with the Fort Worth [Texas] Press, and the Manhattan [Kansas] Mercury-Chronicle. In early 1935, he took a position as a statistical clerk with the Resettlement Administration in the Department of Agriculture. Although this position lasted only two years, it marked the beginning of Thackrey’s service with the Federal government, which with the exception of a couple of brief periods, lasted until his retirement in 1974.
In 1938, Thackrey took a position with the University of Nebraska Agricultural Extension Service as assistant extension editor. Three years later he accepted a position as an information specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Economics, and moved to Washington DC.
In 1946 he was appointed Director of Economic Information within that agency, and served in that same capacity in the Agricultural Marketing Service and the Consumer and Marketing Service of the Department of Agriculture during the next two and a half decades. In this position, Thackrey supervised the editing and distribution of a variety of publications that the Bureau produced, including crop and livestock reports, outlook and situation reports, and publications geared toward consumers of agricultural products.
During his tenure, Thackrey also introduced and promoted the translation of these publications into Spanish, and was a member of the Languages and Literature Committee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School. A longtime resident of Falls Church, Virginia, Thackrey was also active in a number of civic groups there, including a committee that drafted the city charter.
J. Franklin Thackrey died on November 24, 1990.
The J. Franklin Thackrey Papers are arranged in alphabetic order by name and subject. Of the 5 linear feet of papers, over 3.5 linear feet document Thackrey’s career with the Department of Agriculture, and approximately half of this amount focuses on the Agricultural Marketing Service. Through the activities of the Agricultural Marketing Service and its successor bureaus, one can see a shift in the activities of the Department of Agriculture from not only helping producers market their products but to also serving as an advocate for the consumer. Topics covered in Thackrey’s papers include the development of consumer information and education materials, the publicizing of food stamps and free school lunches sponsored by the Department, meat and poultry inspection programs, as well as Thackrey’s trip to the Soviet Union in 1960 as part of an agricultural communications delegation.
Related collections at the Hoover Presidential Library include the papers of Peter DeVries, who headed the Bureau of Agricultural Economics during the early 1940s, while Thackrey was also employed there.
Box and Folder Inventory
Box Contents
1
Agricultural Communicators in Education, 1980
Agriculture, Department of
Agricultural Marketing Service
Baker, John D., 1956, Internal Security Investigation
Consumer Information and Protection
1938, 1964-66
1967-69
1970-75
Undated
Dairy Production, 1960-74
Fair Packaging and Labeling, 1965-70
Foreign Agricultural Service
General, 1960
Japan, 1959-65
Latin America, 1966-78
Scandinavia, 1946
2
General
1950’s
1960-64
1965-69
1970’s
Undated and Clippings
Agriculture, Department of (cont.)
Agricultural Marketing Service
Grapes, 1968
Information Division
General, 1962-76
Wire Services
General, 1963-73
Ridder Publications, 1963-73
3
Market News Service
1933-66
1967-74
Meat and Poultry Inspection and Grading
1954-67
1968, January-July
1968, August-December
1969-71
1972-76, Undated
Sausages, Fat Content, 1967-71, Undated
4
National Food Buyers’ Quiz, 1966
Peanuts, 1968-74
Personnel, 1949-74
Reports and Meetings, 1959-1981
Tomatoes, 1972
Agriculture, Department of (cont.)
Agricultural Marketing Service
Transportation of Food, 1973-74
Agricultural Research Service, 1954-75
5
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), 1965-74, Undated
Benson, Ezra Taft, Burned Books, Clippings, 1955-58
Communications and Information, 1954-73, Undated
Computer Systems, 1974
Consumer and Marketing Service, SEE: Agricultural Marketing Service
Co-op Information, 1977
Defense Operations, 1955-62
Disaster Food Relief, 1967-73
Extension Service, 1953-70
Farm Population Report, 1958-62
Farm Subsidy Programs, 1968
Food and Nutrition Service, 1962-70
Food Editors Conference, 1974
Food Market Alert, 1973
Food Safety, 1964-78, undated
Food Surplus Distribution, Webaux County, Montana, 1968
Freedom of Information
1953-69
6
1970-72
Agriculture, Department of (cont.)
1973-73, Undated, Clippings
Freeman, Orville, 1966-69
General
1935-69, Undated
1970-72
Graduate School, 1963-79
Hunger in America
1966-67
1968
January-May
June
7
July
August-December
1969-71, Undated
Food Stamp Program, 1965-73
School Milk and Lunch Program, 1946-77
Internal Security, 1955-73
“The Law & The Market”, Booklet, 1966
Letters of Appreciation, 1955-78
Nader, Ralph, 1968-72
Office of Information, 1933-74
Plentiful Foods, 1969-81, Undated
Agriculture, Department of (cont.)
Politics, 1951-71
Population, 1958-68, Undated
8
Publications Program, 1954-74, Undated
Public Relations, 1959-62
Radio Scripts, 1938 Farm Program
Reorganization, 1971-72, Undated
Resettlement Administration
First Annual Report, 1936
General, 1930-37, Undated
Nebraska Office, 1934-41, Undated
Speeches and Writings by Others, 1954-1974, Undated
9
Soviet Union, Agricultural Information Trip To, 1960
Background Information
Diaries and Reports
Expenses
Itinerary and Notes
Printed Information
Report by Ray E. Durham
Soviet Agricultural Delegation to the United States
10
American Association of Agricultural College Editors, 1941-76
Benson, Ezra Taft, 1955
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Publications, 1934-41
Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, Mass Media, 1960
Civil Service Reform, 1949-80
Consumer Price Index, 1981
Food and Drug Law Institute, 1966
Government Printing Office, 1972
Health, Education, and Welfare, Department of
Complaints, 1971
Film Script: “Genie,” 1967
Gerontology Research Center, 1972-79
Education, 1940-77
Humor, Undated
Information Advisory Group, 1946-51
Leonard, Rodney, Affidavit, March, 1970
Maps, 1952, Undated
11
National Livestock and Meat Board, 1970-72
National Press Club, 1971
President’s Advisory Committee on Universal Training, 1945-46
Public Relations Society of America, Inc., 1969
Scandinavian Brochures, 1960
Senate and House Bills. 1973-74
Stevenson, Adlai, Death, 1965
Thackrey, J. Franklin
Awards, 1968-73
Nebraska, 1935-41
Personal
Agricultural Marketing Service Business
1937-78
Undated
Biographical Information, 1910-1940
Falls Church, Virginia, 1946-1981, Undated
Family Business and Letters
1924-69
1970-80
Undated
Insurance, 1956-1980
12
Internal Security Investigation, 1956-64
Professional Organizations, 1965-75
Retirement, 1974-75
Speeches and Talks, 1959-76
Travel, 1962-75
Thackrey, Russell I., 1969
United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization, 1959