Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones
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Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones Sr. (August 6, 1905 – April 9, 1982), known as Prez Jones, was an American educator and administrator. He served as the second president of
Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...
, a
historically black university Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
in
Grambling, Louisiana Grambling is a city in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,949 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Grambling State University and is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area. Grambling was designated a " ...
, from 1936 until 1977. He also coached the
Grambling State Tigers baseball The Grambling State Tigers baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana, U.S. The team is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate ...
team, and was inducted into the
National College Baseball Hall of Fame The National College Baseball Hall of Fame is an institution operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States. In partnership with the Southwest Collect ...
.


Early life and education

Jones was born in
Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu ...
, on August 6, 1905. His grandfather was a slave and his father, John S. Jones, was the first dean of
Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...
, a
historically black university Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...
. His mother owned all of the works of
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
, and named her son after the author. Jones earned his
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
from Southern University in 1925. He also earned a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.


Grambling State University

Charles P. Adams, the president of
Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...
(GSU), interviewed all five members of the Southern University's 1925 graduating class and decided to hire one of Jones' classmates. However, he mixed up their names and hired Jones. Though Adams recognized his mistake after his arrival, Jones stayed and was assigned to teach chemistry, math, and biology. He formed the
Grambling State Tigers baseball The Grambling State Tigers baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana, U.S. The team is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate ...
team and served as its
head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
. He also formed the
Grambling State Tigers football The Grambling State Tigers are the college football team representing the Grambling State University. The Tigers play in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The prominence ...
team and served as its first coach. Jones assumed the duties of the
registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the se ...
and dean of men, and formed the GSU Tiger Marching Band. Jones also wrote Grambling State's '' alma mater''. Jones became president of Grambling State, then known as the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute, in 1936. He gave up all of his duties at Grambling, except he remained the coach of the baseball team. The school had joined the
University of Louisiana System The University of Louisiana System (UL System) is a public university system in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It enrolls more students than the other three public university systems in the state. Its headquarters are in the Claiborne Building in ...
in 1926, but did not receive financial support until 1932, and Jones continued to advocate for more money for the school. It transitioned into a four-year college in 1944, and Jones convinced the
Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represen ...
to change the name to Grambling State College. He hired Eddie Robinson to become the football coach. In 1970, the Louisiana Board of Education waived the mandatory retirement requirement at age 65 for Jones. Grambling State achieved university status in 1974. Jones retired as president in 1977. While he was president, the schools' faculty increased from 17 to 500 and the student body increased from 120 to 4,000. As the baseball coach, Jones had a
win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...
. He led the Tigers to six Midwest Athletic League championships between 1952 and 1958 and to five championships in the
Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in t ...
(SWAC) between 1961 and 1967. In 1967, Jones won the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...
Coach of the Year Award. Players that he coached who reached
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
included
Ralph Garr Ralph Allen Garr (born December 12, 1945), nicknamed "Road Runner", is an American former professional baseball player, scout, and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from through — most notably as a member of th ...
,
Tommie Agee Tommie Lee Agee (August 9, 1942 – January 22, 2001) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from through , most notably as a member of the New York Mets team that became known as th ...
,
Cleon Jones Cleon Joseph Jones (born June 24, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left fielder. Jones played most of his career for the New York Mets and in 1969 caught the final out of the "Mira ...
, and
Johnny Jeter John Jeter (born December 14, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2006 as Johnny, a member of The Spirit Squad. Jeter was trained by Nick Dinsmore (also k ...
.


Personal life and honors

Jones was married and had two sons, Ralph Jr. and John Arthur. His wife, Mildred Shay Jones, died in 1953. Jones died at Lincoln General Hospital in
Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in the Eastern Ark-La-Tex region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 21,859, reflecting an increase of 6.4 percent ...
, on April 9, 1982, due to complications from
gallstone A gallstone is a calculus (medicine), stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to ...
surgery. Over 2,000 attended his memorial service at Grambling State, including Louisiana politicians
Joe Waggonner Joseph David Waggonner Jr. (September 7, 1918 – October 7, 2007) was a Democratic U.S. Representative for the 4th congressional district in northwest Louisiana from December 1961 to January 1979. He was also a confidant of Republican Presid ...
, Alphonse Jackson, and Charles C. Barham. Jones received two
honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
s: a
Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...
from
Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...
in 1970 and a
Doctor of Humane Letters The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
from the
University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt's schools and colleges provide education in business, law, public affairs, and the applied arts and sc ...
in 1977. He was inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame in 1992 and the
National College Baseball Hall of Fame The National College Baseball Hall of Fame is an institution operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States. In partnership with the Southwest Collect ...
in 2011. Grambling State inducted Jones into its Hall of Fame in the inaugural class in 2009 and renamed its baseball field after Jones and Wilbert Ellis in 2011.


See also

*
List of longest serving higher education presidents in the United States The longest serving president of a United States institution of higher education is Eliphalet Nott, who served at Union College in Schenectady, New York, for 62 years (1805–66). Criteria According to a 2007 report from the American Council on ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ralph Waldo Emerson 1905 births 1982 deaths 20th-century African-American educators 20th-century African-American sportspeople African-American coaches of American football African-American baseball coaches Grambling State Tigers baseball coaches Grambling State Tigers football coaches Presidents of Grambling State University Sportspeople from Lake Charles, Louisiana Columbia University alumni Southern University alumni National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Grambling, Louisiana 20th-century American academics