Judge Nathaniel R. Jones Papers
We're
honored to receive Judge Jones' papers,
which chronicle the last fifty years of the
civil rights struggle. From them we will
be able to learn about the struggle for
human rights from someone who has
experienced the struggle at every level -
from his early life as a private individual
working for change, to a powerful judge
one step away from the Supreme Court.
Dean Emeritus and Wilbert and Helen Ziegler Professor of Law
A Quick Guide:
The Judge Nathaniel R. Jones Papers:
When completed, the collection will be fully described by an online finding aid prepared by the staff of the Robert S. Marx Law Library. This finding aid will include an index to the material in the collection as well as a detailed inventory. It also will include links to related items in online library catalogs and other Web sites.
The Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones has distinguished himself as a lawyer, jurist, academic, and public servant. He was born on May 12, 1926, in Youngstown, Ohio, and served with the U.S. Air Force during World War II. After the war, he pursued his education at Youngstown State University, receiving his A.B. in 1951 and his LL.B. in 1956. Judge Jones was admitted to the bar in 1957.
After four years in private practice, Judge Jones served as Executive Director of the Fair Employment Practices Commission and then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland. He held that position until his 1967 appointment as Assistant General Counsel to President Johnson's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission). Following his term with the Kerner Commission, Judge Jones returned to private practice with the firm of Goldberg and Jones in Youngstown.
In 1969, he was asked to serve as general counsel of the NAACP by executive director Roy Wilkins. For the next ten years, Judge Jones directed all NAACP litigation; in addition to personally arguing several cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, he coordinated national efforts to end northern school segregation, to defend affirmative action, to inquire into discrimination against black servicemen in the U.S. military, and successfully coordinated the NAACP's defense on First Amendment grounds in the Mississippi Boycott case.
On May 17, 1979, President Carter nominated Judge Jones to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Judge Jones took his oath of office on October 15 of that year, and currently serves as a Senior Judge of that court.
Judge Jones' distinguished record of community and academic service includes teaching at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, North Carolina Central University College of Law, and Harvard Law School. His efforts in civil and human rights have taken him to countries around the globe, and in 1993 he served on the team of observers for the first democratic elections in South Africa. Judge Jones is also a member of the advisory board of the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights.
Access to and Use of the Collection:
At the present time, the collection is being processed. The collection will not be available to the public until the collection's inventory is completed.
For additional information about the collection, contact:
Virginia C. Thomas
Director, Law Library & Information Technology
Robert S. Marx Law Library
University of Cincinnati College of Law
PO Box 210142
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0142
Telephone: (513) 556-0159
virginia.thomas@uc.edu