The material in the June Manning Thomas papers is dated from 1951-2021 (bulk 1990-2010) and primarily documents Dr. Thomas's professional activities and research interests. The collection is organized into several file groups. The Biographical file includes clippings, photographs, correspondence, vitae, and related material about Thomas. The Collected Materials file contains miscellaneous publications, reports, and other material from Dr. Thomas's bookshelf that are not directly connected to her own work. The Research, Publications, and Related Material file includes interview material, papers and presentations, reports, topical files, and other material related to her professional efforts, research, and scholarship. The Teaching file group includes course material, syllabi, and topical files related to Thomas's teaching, primarily at the University of Michigan.
June Sheralyn Manning Thomas was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1950 to Dr. Hubert V. Manning and Professor Ethel Augusta Manning (born Braynon). After graduating from Orangeburg High School in 1967, Thomas briefly attended Furman University before transferring to Michigan State University (MSU) in 1968. She graduated with a B.A. in Sociology in 1970 and, between 1970-1971, also converted to the Baháʼí Faith. Thomas matriculated to the University of Michigan in 1971 and received her Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning in 1977. Her thesis was entitled "Blacks on the South Carolina Sea Islands: Planning for Tourist and Land Development".
After briefly working as an instructor in MSU's Department of Urban & Metropolitan Studies (1976-1977), Thomas joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban & Metropolitan Studies and Urban Planning. She attained the rank of Associate Professor (Urban Planning and Urban Affairs Programs) in 1982 and Professor (Urban and Regional Planning Program) in 1995.
Thomas served in other roles during her tenure at MSU. Notably, she was the Director of the Urban and Regional Planning Program (1996-2000) and held various leadership roles within the MSU Extension (MSUE) Urban Collaborator's Program from 1999-2007. Thomas's professional experience during this time included working as an Associate Professor in Cleveland State University's Department of Urban Studies (1981-1982), at the Michigan Department of Commerce (1985-1986), as a private Urban Development Consultant (1987, 1992-1994), and as an Advisor to Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's Cool Cities Initiative (2004-2006).
In 2007, Thomas left MSU and joined the University of Michigan as a Centennial Professor of Urban and Regional Planning in the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. She also held a joint appointment with UM's Residential College from 2011-2015. She was also named the Mary Frances Berry Distinguished University Professor in 2016 and was the Harry W. Porter, Jr. Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia in the Fall 2016 term. Thomas retired from the University of Michigan in July 2020. Upon her retirement, the university's Board of Regents granted her emerita professor status.
Over the course of her academic and professional career, Thomas served in numerous other organizations. Notably, Thomas was involved with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) as its Vice-President/President-elect (2011-2013), President (2013-2015), and Immediate Past President (2015-2016). She also participated in organizations that included the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), ACSP, various organizations related to the Baháʼí Faith, Michigan Association of Planners, and the Society for American City and Regional Planning History. She has also served on the editorial boards of several journals, including the "Journal of the American Planning Association".
Thomas's academic efforts addresses topics that include the intersection of race, discrimination, reform, and urban planning, as well as urban community development and local government, planning history, planning diversification and education, and the relationship between planning and spiritual leadership. Much of her work has specifically focused on Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, and Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith Shoghi Effendi. Several of her works have received awards, including her book "Redevelopment and Race: Planning A Finer City in Postwar Detroit" (1997).
Thomas herself has received numerous honors. The fellowships that she received included a National Science Foundation fellowship (1971), Woodrow Wilson fellowship (1971), and AICP fellowship (2003). She has also received numerous scholarship, service, and teaching awards during her time at MSU and UM, including the Laurence Gerckens Prize for Sustained Excellence in the Teaching of Planning History (2017).
