- unitid
-
{"value"=>"25639", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MG 818", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b20003692", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1935-2000", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1935/2000"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Thomas Russell Jones papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"18 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"18.0 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division</span>"}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Jones, Thomas Russell", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Born and raised in Brooklyn, by middle-class parents from Barbados, Thomas Russell Jones graduated from St. Johns University Law School in 1937. A first lieutenant during World War II, he led companies of Black troops during the Allied invasion of Normandy, and participated in the liberation of the Alsace province of France. His professional activities included a law practice as a young Black lawyer during the 1950s; his leadership role in the founding of the Unity Democratic Club in Brooklyn in 1960, and of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, together with Senator Robert Kennedy, in 1966; and a prestigious public service career, first in the New York State Assembly for the 17th District in 1962, as a delegate to New York State's Constitutional Convention in 1966, and then, in 1968. as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court. He retired from the bench in 1978, and redirected his energy into advocacy for children, public speaking, and community activism in general.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Thomas Russell Jones papers document the personal life and the professional career of Thomas Russell Jones, a retired Supreme Court Judge for the State of New York, and an early leader in the struggle for the political and economic empowerment of Brooklyn's Black community.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Thomas Russell Jones papers are arranged in ten series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/25639#c1614762'>Personal</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1935-1994</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series begins with biographical and autobiographical material, articles written by and about Judge Jones, and transcripts of an oral history interview with the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. Family papers include material by and about his father, Thomas Sylvester Jones, and his mother, Mabel Ward Jones, of the illustrious Ward family in Barbados; selected material about his wife, born Bertha Kanter, and her family; correspondence with his two children, Margaret \"Peggy\" Jones DeLaCour and David Russell Jones, and other relatives. This first series also encompasses the Barbados files, and material related to the Jones's travels abroad, including their historic trip to China in 1980 on an official invitation from Hsu Te Chien of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, to lecture at the Chinese Law Institute in Shanghai and Beijing on \"The American Judicial System Under the Rule of Law.\"</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/25639#c1614803'>Early life and career</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1939-1959</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series encompasses Judge Jones's early days as Chairman of the New York Youth Congress in 1939; his distinguished service during World War II; his campaign for City Court Justice under the banner of the American Labor Party in 1948; his struggling legal practice in the early 1950s; his legal defense of the Chinese laundry workers during the McCarthy era; his early efforts at political organizing in Bedford Stuyvesant; and his role as a founder of the African Historical Research Society. The Chinese laundry workers were put on trial for allegedly \"trading with the enemy\" (i.e. sending small remittances to family members in China). Judge Jones challenged the Grand Jury for indicting them. They were found guilty and sentenced to six months in detention.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/25639#c1614814'>The Unity Democratic Club</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The UDC files document the activities of a pioneering organization in the struggle for Black empowerment among Brooklyn residents. Materials range from 1960-1964, and include correspondence, newsletters, campaign material, souvenir journals, and two very informative scrapbooks.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/25639#c1614832'>New York State Assembly</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1963-1964</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists primarily of correspondence organized alphabetically and chronologically. There are also some campaign materials and his reports to the community.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/25639#c1614849'>Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (BSRC)</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1966-1972</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series is organized into seven subseries. The \"Vision of Robert Kennedy\" subseries, thus labeled by Judge Jones himself, chronicles Kennedy's direct involvement with the project, and how the project was allowed to deviate from that vision, after Kennedy's assassination. The Active years files consist of minutes of board meetings; architects' proposals for the Super Block program, the Sheffield Farms Community Center, and the Atlantic-Nostrand Community Core; financial and statistical reports; and material of the Coalition on Educational Needs and Services, which played a leading role in the development of Medgar Evers College. Notes, interviews, and speeches include several oral history interviews, and notes from meetings with Benno C. Schmidt and a panel of experts.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/25639#c1614905'>Judicial</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of correspondence and campaign material for the 1964 elections and Judge Jones's election to the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1966; and selected articles and opinions written by Judge Jones during his tenure in the New York State Supreme Court. Also included are materials of the Committee to Draft Judge Thomas Russell Jones for Congress (1968).</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/25639#c1614906'>Child advocacy</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This material includes selected documents of the Bedford Stuyvesant Committee for the Children from 1963-1977, and records of The Children's Times Inc., a nonprofit effort led by Judge Jones and Mrs. Jones.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/25639#c1614907'>General correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1965-1980</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Includes correspondence with Willie Jones and Claude Stephane Collins.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/25639#c1614908'>Speeches and notes</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series includes several important speeches given by Judge Jones after his retirement from the bench, and the Judge's private notes and research material on several contemporary Black leaders.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/25639#c1614909'>Diaries</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1947-1998</div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Arranged into 10 series: I. Personal; II. Early life and career; III. The Unity Democratic Club; IV. New York State Assembly; V. Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation; VI. Judicial; VII. Child advocacy; VIII. General correspondence; IX. Speeches; and X. Diaries.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of David Jones, 2014.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>To be transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division: one box of audio and moving image materials.</p> <p>To be transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs.</p>"}
- revisiondesc
-
{"value"=>"Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark.", "date"=>"2020 November 6"}
- date_start
-
1935
- keydate
-
1935
- date_end
-
2000
- date_inclusive_start
-
1935
- date_inclusive_end
-
2000
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"[Item], Thomas Russell Jones papers, Sc MG 818, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Born and raised in Brooklyn, by middle-class parents from Barbados, Thomas Russell Jones graduated from St. Johns University Law School in 1937. A first lieutenant during World War II, he led companies of Black troops during the Allied invasion of Normandy, and participated in the liberation of the Alsace province of France. His professional activities included a law practice as a young Black lawyer during the 1950s; his leadership role in the founding of the Unity Democratic Club in Brooklyn in 1960, and of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, together with Senator Robert Kennedy, in 1966; and a prestigious public service career, first in the New York State Assembly for the 17th District in 1962, as a delegate to New York State's Constitutional Convention in 1966, and then, in 1968. as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court. He retired from the bench in 1978, and redirected his energy into advocacy for children, public speaking, and community activism in general. The Thomas Russell Jones papers document the personal life and the professional career of Thomas Russell Jones, a retired Supreme Court Judge for the State of New York, and an early leader in the struggle for the political and economic empowerment of Brooklyn's Black community.", "generated"=>true}