2018.012.011 [Portrait]

This is a portrait of Grace Morris Allen Jones, who was an educator and advocate in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jones was born in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1876, and raised in Burlington. In 1891, she became the first African American to graduate from Burlington High School. She later received her teacher's certificate from the Normal School in Burlington and taught in Missouri for three years. Jones returned to Burlington in 1902 and established the Grace M. Allen Industrial School for African-American students Both black and white teachers were employed and the school accepted school-aged students of any race. The school closed in 1906 after Burlington instituted manual training departments into its public schools. Jones went on to study public speaking and worked as a fundraiser and public speaker for education. After marrying Laurence C. Jones in 1912, she helped her husband run Piney Woods Country School in Mississippi. She also served as president of the Mississippi Federation of Colored Women's Clubs from 1918 to 1923. Content can be used with the following standards: 5th grade SS 5.26 Civil Rights in a lesson on civil right changes in the education system. For any use other than instructional resources, please check with the organization that owns this item regarding copyright restrictions.