William J. Thompkins (July 5, 1884 - August 4, 1944) was a physician and health administrator in Kansas City, Missouri and served as Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia from 1934 to his death.

He wrote an influential study of the relationship between housing conditions and tuberculosis in blacks and was active in Democratic politics which garnered him attention at the highest levels of the party.

In August 1911, Thompkins gave a speech at the National Negro Educators Congress in Denver, Colorado about the progress of blacks in America.

[9] In this position, Thompkins wrote a study which pressed for an improvement of housing conditions in the face of high prevalence of tuberculosis in Kansas City blacks.

[2] In 1928, Thompkins became involved in the 1928 Presidential campaign, supporting Democratic nominee Alfred E. Smith, who would lose to Herbert Hoover in November.

His efforts for the Democrats were rewarded and Thomkins was appointed to the office of Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia by President Franklin Roosevelt in March 1934, succeeding Jefferson Coege.

[14] In 1939, the Hatch Act prohibited federal employees from political campaigns, and Thompkins was the sole black government official to be issued an exception.

[1] Thompkins played an important role in the 1940 Missouri senatorial election, being named general chairman of the Negro Division of Harry S. Truman's campaign.

[15] In 1941, A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and Walter White, executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People planned a march on Washington for July 1 to oppose discrimination in the Federal Government.

As the day of the march approached, President Roosevelt made an effort to counter the protest, enacting a number of policies to appease Randolph and White.