Adrienne Lash Jones (July 15, 1935 - August 28, 2018) was an American academic of African-American studies. She was a professor at Oberlin College for most of her career.[1]
Adrienne Lash was born in Salisbury, North Carolina to Wiley I. Lash and Thelma Spalding Lash.[2] Her family "had a history of operating small businesses"[3] and valued education; her mother had earned a PhD.[2] One of two daughters, she grew up in Salisbury, where she worked in the family-owned Lash’s Self Service Grocery and attended Price High School.[2][4] Lash's father went on to become Salisbury's first Black mayor from 1981 to 1985.[4]
Jones graduated from Fisk University in 1956 with a bachelor's degree in business management.[1][3] While at Fisk, she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha.[2] She earned a graduate degree (1979) and a doctorate in American studies (1983) at Case Western Reserve University.[1][2] Her dissertation was titled Jane Edna Hunter: A Case Study of Black Leadership, 1915- 1950. It was republished in 1990 in volume 12 of the 16- volume series, Black Women in United States History (Carlson Publishing, Inc.).[3]
Career
Jones became involved in civil rights activism in Cleveland in the 1960s, eventually becoming recognized as a local leader, meeting with figures such as Malcolm X and Cleveland mayor Carl Stokes.[2]
Much of Jones' academic publishing was on Black women in the YWCA, exploring the history of inclusion, segregation, and racism within the organization.[5] In 1987, she received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for her research into the history of Black women in the YWCA.[6]
Jones was a professor at Oberlin College for most of her career,[1] and became the school's first tenured female Black professor.[7] She was head of Oberlin College's Black Studies Department by 1991, and developed a curriculum for the department which focused on "a mix of courses in history, politics, education, and fine arts". She also played a pivotal role in the development of the college's feminist studies department.[7]
Personal life and death
She married L. Morris Jones (d. 2015) in 1957. The couple moved to Cleveland in 1958, and L. Morris Jones started a medical practice in the Hough neighborhood. In 1962, they relocated to Shaker Heights as part of integration efforts.[2][8]
The couple had three sons, two of whom were twins. The couple retired in the late 1990s, relocating to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.[2] Following Morris's death in 2015,[7] Jones relocated to Cary, North Carolina to live near her sister.[2]
Adrienne Lash Jones died in Cary, North Carolina on August 28, 2018.[2]
Publications
Articles
Jane Edna Hunter: A Case Study of Black Leadership, 1915- 1950.
Republished in Black Women in United States History. Vol.12. Carlson Publishing. 1990.[3]
Jones, Adrienne Lash. "Addie Waits Hunton". In Sklar, Kathryn Kish; Dublin, Thomas (eds.). Black Women Suffragists. Women and Social Movements Database. Alexander Street Press.[10]
Jones, Adrienne Lash (1993). "Phyllis (Phillis) Wheatley Clubs and Homes". In Hine, Darlene Clark (ed.). Black Women in America: A Historic Encyclopedia. New York City: Carson Publishing.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
