Thompson’s long life and career was documented in her biography, American Cassandra, by Peter Kurth. She was born in 1893, the daughter of an impoverished Methodist preacher. After graduating from Syracuse University, she became a major player in New York’s suffrage movement as an organizer and speaker. In 1920, Thompson went to Europe with a friend to pursue her journalism career. The ship was filled with Zionists heading to a conference in London and during the 12-day voyage she learned everything she could about Zionism, becoming a strong advocate for their cause.
Thompson’s editors warned her that in the American press a hostility toward Israel was “almost a definition of professional suicide.” Nonetheless, she would not be intimidated and said, “I refuse to become an anti-Semite by appointment”, and refused “to yield to this type of blackmail.” The campaign against her strengthened and she began to be dropped from other papers. Her once-lucrative speaking career began to dry up because of the organized campaign to label her as an anti-Semite, a label that stuck for the rest of her career.