Jones, Brownie Lee.

Civil rights activist and director, Southern School for Workers, 1944-1950.

Brownie Lee Jones served as director of the Southern School for Workers (originally named the Southern Summer School for Women Workers) from 1944 until the school's dissolution in 1950. Although originally established exclusively for the labor education of women workers, the school began admitting male workers in 1938. By the end of the Second World War, however, many of the functions performed by the Southern School were being taken over by national labor organizations, thus diminishing demand for the school's services. In response, the school, under the leadership of Jones, began to diversify its activities, particularly moving into the field of civil rights. The school closed in 1950 as a result of financial insolvency (1949-1951).