PIPRR

Ruby Jones

Ruby Jones was hired to teach in West Chester’s Demonstration School in 1961. As the first Black teacher on campus, she was a central figure in the school’s efforts to become more diverse. In 1968, Jones was promoted from elementary teacher to Assistant Professor and Supervisor of Student Teachers. By 1977, just four years after she retired, plans were underway to rename the Model School building for her. Jones became a symbolic figure of racial integration, but her work with hundreds of student teachers made an impact on an even greater scale.

• How common were professors of color on American campuses by the 1960s? Was West Chester ahead of, or behind, the times?
• What work did Professor Jones do as a Professor? What impact would she have had on students?
• How has the curriculum for elementary education changed since Professor Jones’ time on campus? What teaching materials did she use?
• Why did West Chester name a building after Jones? At the time, how unusual was it to name a building for a person of color? For a woman?
• How did Professor Jones’ students remember her? What did they go on to do?

• The Ruby Jones Collection (see Special Collections)
• The WCU Student Newspapers Collection
• The WCU Yearbooks Collection