Paul W. L. Jones

Biography / History

P.W.L. Jones was born in 1878 at Mt. Sterling, Kentucky to Daniel and Sue (Thomas) Jones. His father, Daniel Jones, served in the Union Army from 1864 to 1866. Named William Lawrence Jones at birth, P.W.L. Jones earned the nickname of "Paul" from classmates because of his early love of history and interest in John Paul Jones.

An 1898 graduate of KSU (then Kentucky Normal School for Colored Persons), P.W.L. Jones later went on to become a professor of history and Academic Dean at KSU (then Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute). He worked at KSU between 1907 and 1928. Along with teaching and administrative duties, he also helped form and served as coach and manager of early baseball, football, and track teams at the school, which earned him the title of "Father of Athletics."

Incorporating his interest in education and athletics, Jones was a member of the Kentucky Negro Education Association, wrote a column for Spalding's Football Guide from 1928 until his death, contributed articles to The Crisis and wrote and published A History of K.N.I.I. in 1912. Jones used one of these volumes to record updates on the faculty, staff and alumni up through 1920.

In 1920, Jones and his family moved to Cincinnati when he was offered the position of Superintendent of the Colored Industrial School of Cincinnati, which was also known as the McCall School, where he worked until his death in 1953. Jones and his wife, Ada Clementina Anderson, had three sons, the youngest born on the campus of K.N.I.I.

Over the years P. W. L. Jones collected books by and about African Americans as well as a wide range of other topics including books about Africa, religion, history, poetry, the horse industry and other sports. This extensive and rare library makes up a large part of the Special and Rare Book collection at Kentucky State University. The collection as a whole is unmatched in the state of Kentucky and rivals the Schomburg Collection at the New York Public Library.