Thomas Elsa Jones collection (1-71), 1925-1947 (bulk, 1926-1946).

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Thomas Elsa Jones collection (1-71), 1925-1947 (bulk, 1926-1946).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/154689992

Personal materials consist of biographical information and correspondence with family and friends, including a few financial records and insurance policy materials. General correspondence contains three subseries: College/University Correspondence, Resignation, and Work Camps. Correspondents include Jane Addams, W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, Eleanor Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and Augusta Savage. The College/University correspondence contains mostly incoming and outgoing letters from presidents and deans at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, with some folders on other educational institutions. The Resignation subseries includes information on Jones's tentative resignation in 1941, and his final official resignation in 1946. The Work Camp subseries includes information on the Whiteville Work Camp, in which students were engaged in assisting the residents of rural Whiteville, Tenn., in a project to build schools. Within the Board of Trustees materials are correspondence, minutes, and reports from the President and the Interim Administrative Committee (the select group of faculty who oversaw the administrative responsibilities of the University during the transition between Jones's and Charles S. Johnson's presidencies). The Faculty and Staff series consists of five subseries: Correspondence and Contracts; Faculty Committees; Departmental Reports; Executive Committee of the Faculty; and Meeting of the Faculty. The Correspondence and Contracts includes information on the backgrounds, salaries, and correspondence of faculty and staff during Jones's tenure, and correspondence between Charles S. Johnson and Jones; also documents regarding the possibility of hiring Zora Neale Hurston as a faculty member (1934). Departmental Reports consist of yearly reports of activities, budgets, and proposals. Some departments were never formally established, however the information regarding their possible conception is valuable to understanding the curriculum development at Fisk. Of significant interest is the Aeronautics program, a rare entity at most universities. The Executive Committee of the Faculty played an integral role in making key decisions for the University. This subseries consists of three sub-subseries: Correspondence; Minutes; and Sub-Committees. The third sub-subseries contains information on subcommittees and correspondence with the Executive Committee. The last subseries in the Faculty and Staff Series is the Meeting of the Faculty which contains minutes of the general body of Fisk Faculty members. The Students and Alumni series is comprised of two subseries: Students and Alumni. Both subseries contain correspondence. The Students sub-subseries contains information on student interests and committees, and on the case of Ishmael Flory, a graduate student forced to withdraw from the University for his publicized petition against the Jubilee Singers performing at a segregated venue. Support for Flory comes from national organizations such as the NAACP and other colleges and universities. The Alumni subseries features information on the Alumni Association and on various alumni who corresponded with Jones and other administrators at Fisk University. The Building Development and Properties series consists of general correspondence regarding the development of different buildings on Fisk's campus. Additionally, there are architectural bids and plans, as well as property insurance information, useful in understanding the growth of Fisk's physical plant during Jones' tenure. The Financial Records in this collection consist of five subseries: Endowments, Gifts and Grants; Foundations; General Education Board; Scholarships; and General Business Office Records. Endowments, Gifts, and Grants give extensive information on the annual endowment campaigns in which Jones aggressively solicited funds for the University. For more information on the endowment campaigns, researchers should also consult the Office of Public Relations series for correspondence of Theodore Yoder who was the contact for many of those campaigns and Director of Public Relations. Information on both prospective foundations, and those which gave money to Fisk, can be found in the Foundations subseries. The General Education Board was a large foundation which gave money consistently to Fisk University-as well as many other Black educational institutions in the South-for various projects, including curriculum development and property building. Proposed fellowships for faculty members are also found within this series, as well as correspondence regarding the ventures in which they assisted Fisk. The Scholarships in this collection document the different endowed scholarships given from estates and individual donors. Also found within this subseries is some of the Student Aid Committee information. This committee voted on which students would receive aid from the University. Lastly, the General Business Office Records subseries of the Financial Record series contains expenditures, audits, and financial reports of the University. The World War II and Military Materials document educational, training opportunities, and special programs at Fisk which played a role in the domestic front: such as the Army Specialized Training Program, (which was housed at Fisk), as well as the Civilian Public Service Camps which Jones and other conscientious objectors participated in while on leave from the University. This series contains propaganda, correspondence, and information on veteran students at Fisk. The Music series includes one subseries on the Jubilee Singers, as well as information, materials, and programs for the University Choir, the Student Quartet, and other musical guests who came to Fisk during Jones's tenure. Topics include: Roland Hayes's visits to Fisk and the Festival of Music and Fine Arts. Also includes documents regarding Marian Anderson's visit to Fisk. The Jubilee Singers information includes correspondence with various managers of the singing group. The Office of Public Relations series is comprised primarily of correspondence from the administrators of the Public Relations Dept. at Fisk, including Theodore Yoder and Eva Child. Additionally, much information on the endowment campaigns can be found within this series, as Yoder served as a director of the annual initiatives to raise money for the University. The Office of Publicity series consists of correspondence with the Director of Publicity, Luanna Bowles, and her staff. Much of the correspondence directed to Jones regarding publications, bulletins, and information on the University was referred to this office. This section also includes information on printing companies which solicited Fisk for business, and various types of media used to publicize Fisk. Organizations to which Jones belonged or those interested in Fisk University are found in the Organizational Affiliations series, which has four subseries: American Friends Service Committee; Educational Organizations; Civic, Social, and Political Organizations; and Conferences. Jones was a birthright member of the Society of Friends (Quakers). The American Friends Service Committee served as a social justice organization founded by the Quakers to support various peace programs. This series includes correspondence, engagements, and speeches made by Jones. Researchers interested in the Civilian Public Service Camps Jones participated in should consult the World War II and Military series in addition to this subseries. The Educational and Civic, Social, and Political Organizations subseries includes correspondence between groups with varied missions. Documents regarding Fisk University becoming the first Black institution of higher learning to receive a Class A rating from the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools can also be found in this subseries. Lastly, the Conferences subseries includes correspondence between Jones and organizations either wishing to hold conferences on the campus or requesting the leadership of Fisk administrators in conducting them. The agenda for the first Race Relations Institute held at Fisk is also included in this subseries. The Publications series holds many university publications: the Fisk Herald, Fisk News, and the Fisk University Bulletin. The publicity office composed a biographical sketch of J.W. Johnson, also contained in this series. Additionally, other university bulletins, institutional newsletters, and newspaper clippings are included. Addresses, Manuscripts, Reports, Speeches, and Writings contain documents making up the various subseries with these names found in this section. It contains manuscripts and writings composed by Jones as well as others at Fisk and elsewhere. Additionally, there is some correspondence regarding Jones' speaking engagements. The Special Events series includes commencements, convocations, receptions, and other items relating to Jones's 1926 inauguration. The series primarily consists of correspondence and addresses, but also contains programs and news releases. The Interim Administrative Committee series contains the correspondence and minutes of the group of faculty members who oversaw the administrative responsibilities of the University after Jones resigned in 1946 until Charles S. Johnson officially assumed the presidency in 1947. The Miscellaneous Materials make up the final series and include Fisk Related and Non-Fisk Related Materials, such as unknown or undated mailing lists, notes, and a biography of Herbert Hoover. Of note in this series is the amendment to the Charter, the Articles of Incorporation, and the By-laws of Fisk University.

ca. 30.53 cubic ft.

John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Special Collections & Archives

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6863808

Related Entities

There are 33 Entities related to this resource.

Jubilee Singers (Fisk University)

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The Fisk Jubilee Singers originated with nine students, Isaac Dickerson, Maggie Porter, Minnie Tate, Jennie Jackson, Benjamin Holmes, Thomas Rutling, Eliza Walker, Green Evans, and Ella Sheppard, who set out on a concert tour of the North on 6 Oct. 1871 to save the financially ailing Fisk University; idea to form the group was conceived by George L. White, Fisk University's white treasurer; because the University disapproved of the idea, White had to borrow money for the tour; White gave the gro...

Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62g8fd2 (person)

James Weldon Johnson was a publisher, educator, lawyer, composer, artist, diplomat, and civil rights leader. Together with his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, he wrote the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing", which came to be known as the "Negro National Anthem", as well as a large number of popular songs for the musical stage of the early twentieth century. Johnson also served as consul of the United States to Venezuela and Nicaragua. He wrote several books and served as editor of the New York Age. ...

Rockefeller, John D., Jr. (John Davison), 1874-1960

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xq7xr4 (person)

John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in Midtown Manhattan known as Rockefeller Center, making him one of the largest real estate holders in the city. Towards the end of his life, he was famous for his philanthropy, donating over $500 million to a wide variety of different causes, including educati...

Addams, Jane, 1860-1935

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jr1sc6 (person)

Social reformer; founder of Hull House settlement, Chicago. From the description of Letter: Hull-House, Chicago, to Louis J. Keller, Chicago, 1912 May 13. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 26496308 From the description of Letter: Hull-House, Chicago, to Paul M. Angle, Springfield, Ill., 1932 June 24. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 26496294 Founder of Hull House in Chicago. From the description of Cor...

Anderson, Marian, 1897-1993

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64k16hh (person)

Marian Anderson was born on February 27, 1897 (although throughout much of her life she gave her birth date as February 17, 1902) in south Philadelphia. Her father, John Berkley Anderson, sold ice and coal and her mother Annie Delilah Rucker Anderson was a former schoolmistress. She was the oldest of three sisters. She began singing when she was six, in the church choir, and by eight had become a regular substitute, filling in for absent sopranos, tenors and even bass. She was presented in one c...

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6k17w53 (corporateBody)

Organizational History and List of Officers Organizational History 1909 Issued the “Call,” a statement calling for a conference to protest discrimination and violence against African Americans Convened the National Negro Conference on May 31 and June 1, New York, N.Y. E...

Hayes, Roland W., 1887-1977

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xj0gst (person)

Roland Hayes (June 3, 1887 – January 1, 1977) was an American lyric tenor and composer. Critics lauded his abilities and linguistic skills demonstrated with songs in French, German and Italian. Earlier African-American concert artists were not recorded because in their day recording companies were only interested in a vaudeville type of singer. Hayes was one of the first to break this barrier and in 1939 he recorded with Columbia. Earlier both Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson had recorded from t...

Hurston, Zora Neale, 1891-1960

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63599q1 (person)

Zora Neale Hurston was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on hoodoo. The most popular of her four novels is Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937. She also wrote more than 50 short stories, plays, and essays. Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama, and moved with her family to Eatonville, Florida, in 1894. She later used Eatonville as the setting for many of her stories. It is n...

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c649b1 (person)

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the longest-serving First Lady throughout her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four terms in office (1933-1945). She was an American politician, diplomat, and activist who later served as a United Nations spokeswoman. A shy, awkward child, starved for recognition and love, Eleanor Roosevelt grew into a woman with great sensitivity to the underprivileged of all creeds, races, and nations. Her constant work to improve their lot made her one of the most loved–...

Fisk University

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6998xcv (corporateBody)

Established as Fisk Free Colored School in Nashville, Tenn., in Dec. 1865 by John Ogden, Rev. Erastus Milo Caravath, and Rev. Edward P. Smith; named in honor of Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for Tennessee and Kentucky, who provided the new institution with facilities and contributed over $30,000 to the school; opened on 9 Jan. 1866 with almost two hundred students of all ages; incorporated as Fisk University on 22 Aug. 1867 after its curriculum shifted to ...

Child, Eva

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vt35fw (person)

Savage, Augusta, 1892-1962

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g463x5 (person)

Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools (U.S.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6np71rj (corporateBody)

Jones, Thomas Elsa

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kp98q4 (person)

Last white president of Fisk University (1926-1946); b. 1888; d. 1973. From the description of Thomas Elsa Jones records, 1926-1949. (Fisk University). WorldCat record id: 70970120 Fifth president of Fisk University (Feb. 1926 to July 1946); b. 1888; d. 1973. From the description of Thomas Elsa Jones collection (1-71), 1925-1947 (bulk, 1926-1946). (Fisk University). WorldCat record id: 154689992 ...

Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rn37qn (person)

Poet, author, playwright, songwriter. From the guide to the Langston Hughes collection, [microform], 1926-1967, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.) From the description of Langston Hughes collection, 1926-1967. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 144652168 Langson Hughes: African-American poet and writer, author of Weary Blue (1926), The Big Sea (1940), and other works. ...

Fisk University. Student Aid Committee

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6479h20 (corporateBody)

American friends service committee

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mp8vd2 (corporateBody)

Quaker organization formed to promote peace and reconciliation through its social service and relief programs. From the description of American Friends Service Committee records, 1933-1988 (bulk 1933-1938). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70983753 The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) was organized in June 1917 as an outgrowth of and coordination point for the anti-war and relief activities of various bodies of the Religious Society of Friends in the United States. A ...

Festival of Music and Fine Arts.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pw1rz1 (corporateBody)

Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n40kzp (person)

Herbert Clark Hoover (b. August 10, 1874, Iowa-d. October 20, 1964), thirty-first president of the United States, was born in Iowa, and was orphaned as a child. A Quaker known from his childhood as "Bert" to his friends, he began a career as a mining engineer soon after graduating from Stanford University in 1895. Within twenty years he had used his engineering knowledge and business acumen to make a fortune as an independent mining consultant. In 1914 Hoover administered the American Relief Com...

Fisk University. Aeronautics Program

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61p36k8 (corporateBody)

Army Specialized Training Program (U.S.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f51x3g (corporateBody)

Unit 3900 of the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) was established by the War Department at Oregon State College in March 1943. The program provided training for high grade technicians and specialists needed by the Army for the war effort. Most of the instruction was provided by regular Oregon State College faculty; E.B. Lemon, as Dean of Administration, was Coordinator of the ASTP for Oregon State. Enrollment peaked in the summer of 1943 with more than 1300 ASTP students at Oregon State ...

Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gk06z2 (person)

W. E. B. Du Bois was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer and editor. Educated at Fisk University, he did graduate work at the University of Berlin and Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate. Du Bois became a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. Due to his contributions in the African-American community he was seen as a member of a Black elite that supported some aspects ...

Fisk University. Executive Committee of the Faculty

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61c73d6 (corporateBody)

Fisk University. Interim Administrative Committee

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gb79dc (corporateBody)

Fisk University. Choir

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62c44pc (corporateBody)

Fisk University. Alumni Association

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6799b2j (corporateBody)

Bowles, Luanna J.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6st92dv (person)

Yoder, Theodore

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6p85r51 (person)

Fisk University. Student Quartet

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6k69qmb (corporateBody)

Fisk University. Race Relations Institute

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64f6wtb (corporateBody)

Flory, Ishmael

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gx5q6r (person)

General Education Board (New York, N.Y.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j14bd5 (corporateBody)

The General Education Board was established in 1903 by John D. Rockefeller to aid education in the United States "without distinction of race, sex or creed." The program included grants for endowment and general budgetary support of colleges and universities, support for special programs, fellowships and scholarships assistanceto state school systems at all levels, and development of social and economic resources as a route to improved educaitonal systems. All major colleges and universities in ...

Civilian Public Service

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