African-American businessman, editor, publisher, and attorney John Lay Thompson also practiced law. Most people know him for his newspaper reporting.
Thompson was born in Decatur County, Iowa, on April 3, 1869. He earned degrees from Drake University’s law school in 1898 and Iowa Business College in 1896, respectively. During a time when it was rare for an African-American to achieve such status, he was able to acquire political positions.
From 1896 to 1922, he published The Iowa Bystander. The paper was one of the first black newspapers in the state. During this time, Thompson built a multiracial readership with a statewide network of correspondents.
He won election to the Polk County Republican Central Committee in 1899, making him the first African American to do so. He unsuccessfully ran for justice of the peace in Des Moines Township the following year. Additionally, Thompson served as the deputy county treasurer for Polk County and was the assistant clerk in the Hall of Archives Historical Building in Des Moines in 1911 and 1912.
Thompson worked to establish a weekly communications network for black Iowans, which he and subsequently J.B. Morris would sustain for more than 75 years. Thompson, a friend and supporter of Booker T. Washington, frequently endorsed Washington’s self-help philosophies in publications. Thompson urged African Americans to create their own enterprises, assist black company owners, and take other steps to improve their race’s economic standing.
Thompson echoed Washington’s idea, which held that complete civil rights would inevitably follow if black people raised their economic standing, demonstrated their dependability as diligent workers, and downplayed their political engagement. Thompson’s dedication to this viewpoint was demonstrated by his participation in and leadership of the Iowa Washington National Negro Business League.
In Des Moines, Thompson later opened the three-story brick Thompson Hotel in 1915. Two years later, he created and published a visual history of the first black officers’ training camp ever held in the country, which took place at Fort Des Moines. On July 23, 1930, John L. Thompson passed away.