Thermoluminescence from the recombination of N,N,N ' ,N ' -tetramethylparaphenylenediamin (TMPD) cations with trapped electrons in squalane and cis-decalin glasses and in microcrystalline methylcyclohexane is reported. The glasses exhibit distributions of activation energies maximal at 0.20 eV in squalane and 0.19 eV in cis-decalin, with half-widths at half-height of approximately 0.03 eV. Microcrystalline methylcyclohexane exhibits a single activation energy at 0.30 eV. These activation energies for thermal electron release are much smaller than photoionization threshold energies determined optically in similar glasses, suggesting that the mechanism of electron release is trap destruction, not electron excitation within a stable trap. The similarity between these activation energies and those determined for quenching of the TMPD phosphorescence also supports this interpretation.