From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, Sr. Background
Born August 6, 1905(1905-08-06) The grandson of a slave, Jones was born in Lake Charles,
Lake Charles
the seat of Calcasieu Parish in southwestern Louisiana.
Calcasieu Parish
Louisiana, USA His father, John Sebastian Jones, was the first dean of his-
torically black Southern University in Baton Rouge, from
Died April 9, 1982(1982-04-09) (aged 76) which Jones received his bachelor’s degree. His mother,
Ruston, Lincoln Parish, Ouachita Parish
Louisiana the former Marie Morrison, was a schoolteacher in Lake
Charles.[1] Jones obtained a master’s degree from Colum-
Residence Grambling bia University in New York City. Though often addressed
Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
as "Doctor", Jones did not have an earned doctorate but
Alma mater Southern University honorary awards from Louisiana Tech University in Rus-
Columbia University ton and the University of Baltimore in Baltimore, Mary-
Occupation President and baseball coach, Grambling land.[2]
State University
Religion Baptist Grambling career
Spouse Mildred Shay Jones (married 1937) After a short stint at the former Lamson College in
Alexandria, Louisiana, Jones came to Grambling in 1926,
Children Ralph Jones, Jr.
when it was the two-year Louisiana Negro Normal and
John Arthur Jones
Grandsons: Industrial Institution.[2] There he taught chemistry,
Ralph Eldridge Jones physics, and mathematics. Having been a player in the
Ernest Emerson Jones former Negro League, Jones launched the Grambling
Warren Waldo Jones baseball team. He also was the dean of men and the col-
lege registrar. Under his tenure, Grambling grew from
120 students to a peak of 4,200, nearly all African Amer-
icans. The school grew from a few modest buildings to a
multi-million-dollar physical plant under Jones’s leader-
ship.[2] When Jones was only thirty, he became both the
president of the school and the baseball coach as well.[1]
His actual total Grambling service, 1926 to 1977, exceed-
ed fifty years.[2]
Jones started the college marching band[1] and even
composed the Grambling Tigers alma mater. For seven-
teen years, Wilbert Ellis, a Ruston native and 1959 Gram-
bling graduate, was Jones’s assistant baseball coach; in
1977. Between 1958 and 1967, Jones’s teams rumbled
through conference play, winning seven titles between
R.W.E. Jones in 1969 receives the honorary LL.D. degree from 1958 and 1967 and gaining induction into the National
Louisiana Tech University president F. Jay Taylor. Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame after
leading his teams to national baseball tournaments in
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, Sr. (August 6, 1905 – 1961, 1963, 1964, and 1967. He was national coach of the
April 9, 1982), also known as Ralph W. E. Jones or Prez year in 1967.[3]
Jones,
Jones was from 1936 until his retirement in 1977 the In 1941, Jones hired the inexperienced Eddie Robin-
second president of historically black Grambling State son as the football coach of the Grambling Tigers. Robin-
University in Grambling in Lincoln Parish in north son amassed a still-standing Division I record for career
Louisiana. wins—408—from 1941 tol 1997. Of Jones, Robinson said,
"Boy, oh, boy, he was some kind of guy. There were many
times I thought that if he hadn’t come along to hire me,
that I might have gotten caught on the streets in Baton
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones
Preceded by President of Grambling State University Succeeded by
Charles P. Adams Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones Joseph Benjamin Johnson
1936–1977
Rouge. I thank God that Dr. Jones just grabbed me and posthumously inducted into the National College Base-
took me. ... President Jones was my teacher, even when ball Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas.[8]
I did not realize it."[3] The Grambling campus is now the In addition to the baseball stadium, R.W.E. Jones
home of the Eddie Robinson Museum. Drive in Grambling is named in the former president’s
Grambling is just east of Louisiana Tech University. honor.
Jones’s last fifteen years as the Grambling president coin-
cided with that of the Tech president F. Jay Taylor,[4] who
presented Jones with an honorary doctorate.[2] Other
References
area college presidents during Jones’s latter tenure were [1] ^ "Ralph W. E. Jones, Ex-Head of Grambling". The
Arnold R. Kilpatrick of Northwestern State University in New York Times, April 10, 1982. April 11, 1982.
Natchitoches.[5] and George T. Walker of the University http://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/11/obituaries/
of Louisiana at Monroe, then known as Northeast ralph-we-jones-78-ex-head-of-grambling.html.
Louisiana University, in Monroe.[6] Like Taylor, Walker, Retrieved July 7, 2011.
and Kilpatrick, Jones worked with governors and legisla- [2] ^ "Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, "Then Sings My
tors to obtain vital funding for his institution.[2] Soul, My Savior, God To Thee; How Great Thou Art,
How Great Thou Art!"". contentdm.auctr.edu.
http://contentdm.auctr.edu/cdm4/
Death and legacy item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2FGSBG&CISOPTR=125&DMSCALE=
Jones died at the age of 76 in Ruston’s Lincoln General Retrieved July 8, 2011.
Hospital of complications from gallbladder surgery.[1] He [3] ^ "Grambling Legends: Ralph Waldo Emerson
was a deacon at the New Rocky Valley Baptist Church in "Prez" Jones". gramblinglegends.net.
Grambling. Jones was survived by two sons, Ralph Jones, http://gramblinglegends.net/Ralph-Waldo-
Jr., and John Arthur Jones, both of Baltimore, Maryland, Emerson-Jones.html. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
three grandsons, Ralph Eldridge Jones, Ellison Emerson [4] "Dr. F. Jay Taylor". Shreveport Times, May 17, 2011.
Jones, and Warren Waldo Jones, and five sisters. The obit- http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/
uary does not indicate whether Jones was divorced or a shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=f-jay-
widower, but Mildred is not listed as a surviving wife. Nor taylor&pid=151095320. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
is there an indication of a burial site.[2] [5] "Home Named in Honor of Former NSU President".
In 2006, Frances Swayzer Conley published the illus- Northwesternalumni.com.
trated book Prez Lives! Remembering Grambling’s Ralph Wal- http://northwesternalumni.com/s/859/
do Emerson Jones.[7] Jones developed the slogan: "Gram- index.aspx?id=859&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=1141&ecid=1141&crid=0&
bling: Where Everybody is Somebody."[2] Retrieved May 22, 2009.
[6] "George T. Walker". Monroe News Star.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thenewsstar/
obituary.aspx?n=george-thomas-
walker&pid=152392279. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
[7] "Prez Lives! Remembering Grambling’s Ralph Waldo
Emerson Jones". Trafford Publishing, ISBN
9781412096539.
[8] "Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones to be Inducted into
College Baseball Hall of Fame". gsutigers.com, June
25, 2011. http://www.gsutigers.com/news/2011/6/
25/BB_0625115818.aspx. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
Persondata
Name Jones, Ralph Waldo Emerson
RWE Jones Drive, named for former Grambling State University Alternative
President Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, is one of the main thor- names
oughfares in Grambling. Short descrip-
tion
In May 2011, the Grambling baseball stadium was
Date of birth August 6, 1905
named in Jones’s honor. On July 3, 2011, Jones was
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones
Place of birth Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Date of death April 9, 1982
Louisiana, USA Place of death Ruston, Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph_Waldo_Emerson_Jones&oldid=458248452"
Categories:
• 1905 births
• 1982 deaths
• Grambling State University people
• American university and college presidents
• College baseball coaches in the United States
• People from Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
• People from Lake Charles, Louisiana
• Southern University alumni
• Columbia University alumni
• Negro league baseball players
• African American educators
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