By Sammie Morris
Title: Granville C. Thompson papers, 1921-1943
Primary Creator: Thompson, Granville C. (1898-1989)
Extent: 2.2 Cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement:
Most of the images are identified by location and/or project or contract number. There may be state records of the contracts or projects that will provide further identification for each image. The project numbers tend to begin with the number of the state road or highway included in the project.
The images arrived arranged by project or construction number for each location. This order has been retained, and the groups of images have been ordered alphabetically by city or location for ease of access. Following each location and date are the number of prints and negatives in parentheses for each city. Project and/or contract numbers, when known, have been included in brackets.
Date Acquired: 10/00/2004
Subjects: Bridges, Construction projects, Indiana, State of, Purdue University--Alumni and alumnae
Forms of Material: Artifacts (object genre), Negatives (photographic), Photographic prints
Languages: English
Granville Thompson's photographs document Indiana highway bridge construction projects dating from 1921-1943. Approximately 41 bridge construction projects are covered, at around 33 location sites in Indiana. The collection includes approximately 398 photographic prints and 219 negatives. Many of the original structures in the photographs no longer exist.
The photographs were primarily taken by Thompson using a Kodak IA folding camera, on 116 film. (The camera was later donated to the Kodak Museum by Robert Thompson). A small number of the photographs were taken by J. B. Manson, M. M. Porter [H. H. Porter?], or "Mr. Wooley," of the U.S. Bureau of Roads. Most of the images are 2 ½" X 4 ½" in size. Not every print has a negative, and not every negative has a print.
Granville Curtis Thompson was born in West Bend, Kentucky on January 29, 1898. His parents were married in Batholomew County in 1892 near what is now Hope, Indiana. Thompson's father was a local preacher in the community. Thompson had one older sibling, Edith, born in 1893. The family moved to West Bend in 1896. They later relocated to Kingsville, Kentucky in 1900. Thompson's younger brother, Hubert, was born there in 1900. In 1902, the family moved again to Manchester, Indiana. Thompson's younger sister, Lois, was born there in 1902. The family continued to move around for the following years, to Battesville (1905), Henryville (1908), Francisco (1911), and Graysville (1913). Thompson's other brother, Leete, was born in Graysville in 1915.
Thompson graduated from high school in Graysville in 1917, and then followed his sister Edith to Indiana State Normal School in Terre Haute that same year. He became a teacher in Plainville in 1917. From 1917 to 1918, Thompson and his brother Hubert drove trucks out of Baltimore for a contractor who was building a muster and chlorine gas plant at the Army Arsenal at Edgewood, Maryland. In October 1918, Thompson entered the Army in Pullman, Washington, working guard duty. By December his Army service was over and in 1919 he began teaching again, in Lewis County in Washington.
By the end of 1919, Thompson had returned to Indiana and enrolled at Purdue. However, due to monetary concerns he left Purdue in 1921 to return to teaching, at Oaktown High School. He later returned to Purdue, graduating with a BSME from the School of Mechanical Engineering in 1925. While at Purdue, Thompson was a member of Kappa Delta Rho, Kappa Phi Sigma, A.S.M.E., the Purdue Union, the Y.M.C.A., the P.A.A., and the Glee Club. Thompson worked as a draftsman for the Indiana State Highway Commission out of Hazelton and Seymour during the summers while he was attending Purdue. After graduation, he began to work for the Commission on a full-time basis, starting in July 1925. Thompson frequently photographed the various bridge and highway construction projects he was involved with, taking photographs for his own enjoyment and to document his work. He left the Highway Commission in 1944 to accept a position with American Zinc Products in Greencastle, Indiana. Thompson continued to work for the company until he retired in 1963.
Thompson was always happiest working outdoors, and he actively continued his civil engineering work as Greencastle city engineer for several years and also was self-employed as a registered land surveyor. When he reached the age of 87 he finally began to cut back on his workload. On December 18, 1989, Thompson died at the age of 91.
Repository: Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections
Alternate Extent Statement: 4 boxes
Access Restrictions: Collection is open for research.
Acquisition Source: Robert C. Granville, son of Granville C. Thompson. Both men graduated from the school of mechanical engineering at Purdue.
Preferred Citation: Granville C. Thompson papers, Purdue University Archives and Special Collections
Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid updated 1/7/2011 EW
Other URL: http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/fa/pdf/thompson.pdf
