Adrienne Lash Jones

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]

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]

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]

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 (1991-04-12). Struggle among Saints: Black Women in the YWCA, 1860-1920 (Report). Oberlin College Department of Black Studies.
  • Republished in Mjagkij, Nina; Spratt, Margaret, eds. (1997). Men and Women Adrift: The YMCA and the YWCA in the City. New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-5541-9.^[9]
• Jones, Adrienne Lash (February 2000). "Bowles, Eva Del Vakia (24 January 1875–14 June 1943), secretary for colored work for the Young Women's Christian Association". American National Biography. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1500081. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
• Jones, Adrienne Lash (2005-05-19). "Young Women's Christian Association". Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.44496. ISBN 978-0-19-530173-1. Retrieved 2024-10-03.

Chapters

• 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.
• Jones, Adrienne Lash (1996-11-22). "Philanthropy in the African American Experience". In Schneewind, Jerome B. (ed.). Giving: Western Ideas of Philanthropy. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-11333-7.^[11]