Jacqueline Jones
Encyclopedia
Jacqueline Jones is Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History and Ideas and Mastin Gentry White Professor of Southern History at the University of Texas at Austin, United States. She is an expert in American social history
in addition to writing on economics (also feminist economics
), women, and class.
, Dr. Jones was the daughter of the head of the Delaware state school board and attended an elementary school now named for her father. She previously held academic positions at Wellesley College, Brown University
and Brandeis University
. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
, which she obtained in 1976 after spending time at the University of Delaware
. In July 1999 Dr. Jones was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. Although she could have used this grant to take time off from her teaching, she decided to wait to begin her research and work through the grant, saying, "I think I will take time off in a few years, but I really like being here on campus, being around my colleagues, teaching." Jones has also been awarded a Ford Fellowship, a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, and an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
in history.
. In Labor of Love Labor of Sorrow, Dr. Jones demonstrates her extensive knowledge of the history of the South from 1830-1915. Her study begins as a study of African Americans and the hardships they faced during the times, but then develops to include commentary on the impact of class and gender on the women in the South at the time. The book goes one to debunk ideas about African Americans and also blend ideas about the hardships of women and blacks into one clear interlaced picture that centers over the black working class woman. Overall, the book is both a historical and feminist writing and stays true to painting a real picture of the country at that time. Dr. Jones noted upon her winning of the MacArthur fellowship that finishing her Bancroft winning inspired her to write her third book, The Dispossessed, America's Underclasses from the Civil War to the Present, a book which examines poverty in America across races and genders. That book would go on to win her the Choice award for Outstanding book as well as a finalist standing for the Lillian Smith Award for non-fiction. In 2001, Jones published a memoir of her childhood in Delaware in the 1950s. Although her expertise is history, Dr. Jones's books delve into everything from economic policies and their effect on workers to the educational history of America. Her understanding of women's history has gained her recognition outside her own field in feminist circles and she continues to reach more people as her areas of study expand outward still. Her book, American Work: Four Centuries of Black and White Labor, was a History Book Club Selection and in 2002 she was named a fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
. As her career has developed, Dr. Jones reflected in an interview that she "... [is] writing about issues of race and class and how the United States has changed over the years, how different groups have viewed each other and interacted, how certain groups have been assigned certain kinds of work." In that sense, history is about people as many of her books would indicate and she continues to find more stories to tell and more ways to show the lives of people from the past. In doing so, Dr. Jones has become a leading figure not only in history but in many other fields as well as her work has expanded there. Her many awards and honors, have not only brought attention to herself but also the subjects of her writings which are, in some cases, still in their infancy. Her most recent book, Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War, was published in 2008.
Social history
Social history, often called the new social history, is a branch of History that includes history of ordinary people and their strategies of coping with life. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments...
in addition to writing on economics (also feminist economics
Feminist economics
Feminist economics broadly refers to a developing branch of economics that applies feminist lenses to economics. Research under this heading is often interdisciplinary or heterodox...
), women, and class.
Background
Born in DelawareDelaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, Dr. Jones was the daughter of the head of the Delaware state school board and attended an elementary school now named for her father. She previously held academic positions at Wellesley College, Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, which she obtained in 1976 after spending time at the University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
. In July 1999 Dr. Jones was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. Although she could have used this grant to take time off from her teaching, she decided to wait to begin her research and work through the grant, saying, "I think I will take time off in a few years, but I really like being here on campus, being around my colleagues, teaching." Jones has also been awarded a Ford Fellowship, a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, and an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in history.
Ideas and awards
In 1986, one of her most notable publications, Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family from Slavery to the Present, won her the Bancroft PrizeBancroft Prize
The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948 by a bequest from Frederic Bancroft...
. In Labor of Love Labor of Sorrow, Dr. Jones demonstrates her extensive knowledge of the history of the South from 1830-1915. Her study begins as a study of African Americans and the hardships they faced during the times, but then develops to include commentary on the impact of class and gender on the women in the South at the time. The book goes one to debunk ideas about African Americans and also blend ideas about the hardships of women and blacks into one clear interlaced picture that centers over the black working class woman. Overall, the book is both a historical and feminist writing and stays true to painting a real picture of the country at that time. Dr. Jones noted upon her winning of the MacArthur fellowship that finishing her Bancroft winning inspired her to write her third book, The Dispossessed, America's Underclasses from the Civil War to the Present, a book which examines poverty in America across races and genders. That book would go on to win her the Choice award for Outstanding book as well as a finalist standing for the Lillian Smith Award for non-fiction. In 2001, Jones published a memoir of her childhood in Delaware in the 1950s. Although her expertise is history, Dr. Jones's books delve into everything from economic policies and their effect on workers to the educational history of America. Her understanding of women's history has gained her recognition outside her own field in feminist circles and she continues to reach more people as her areas of study expand outward still. Her book, American Work: Four Centuries of Black and White Labor, was a History Book Club Selection and in 2002 she was named a fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
. As her career has developed, Dr. Jones reflected in an interview that she "... [is] writing about issues of race and class and how the United States has changed over the years, how different groups have viewed each other and interacted, how certain groups have been assigned certain kinds of work." In that sense, history is about people as many of her books would indicate and she continues to find more stories to tell and more ways to show the lives of people from the past. In doing so, Dr. Jones has become a leading figure not only in history but in many other fields as well as her work has expanded there. Her many awards and honors, have not only brought attention to herself but also the subjects of her writings which are, in some cases, still in their infancy. Her most recent book, Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War, was published in 2008.
Publications
- Jones, Jacqueline. Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War, Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.
- Jones, Jacqueline. Creek Walking: Growing Up in Delaware in the 1950s. University of Delaware Press, 2001.
- Jones, Jacqueline. A Social History of the Laboring Classes: From Colonial Times to the Present. Boston & London: Blackwell Publishers, 1999.
- Jones, Jacqueline. American Work: Four Centuries of Black and White Labor. W.W. Norton, 1998.
- Jones, Jacqueline. The Dispossessed: America's Underclasses, from the Civil War to the Present. Basic Books, 1992.
- Jones, Jacqueline. Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family From Slavery to the Present. Basic Books, 1985.
- Jones, Jacqueline. Soldiers of Light and Love: Northern Teachers and Georgia Blacks, 1865-1873. University of North Carolina Press, 1980.