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Alberta Jones was born in Louisville, Kentucky on November 12th 1930. Her mother was Sarah Frances Crawford and her Father was Odell Jones. She was recognized for being the first African American woman in Louisville to become a Prosecutor graduated from Howard University School of Law. In the 1960’s Jones rallied up thousands of African American voters as well as leading the ban for racial discrimination. Jones died August 5th, 1965 at 34 years old. Jones was brutally beaten and thrown into the Ohio river where she drowned to death or so they say. This case is still unsolved and no one was arrested for Jones’ murder.

Background

Alberta Jones was born and raised in Louisville Kentucky during the middle of segregation. For Jones, being an African American woman, to be able to get into college and graduate from Howard University School of Law and become an attorney was a huge deal. Jones grew up in Louisville in subpar living conditions. By the beginning of 20th century, Black people started migrating north in mass escape from the segregated, prejudiced, and racist south. Louisville was only slightly different from the deep south. African Americans were granted rights, but not to the full extent. They were subjected to shoddy living conditions. Urban Planners during this time called the situation in Louisville the, “ Negro Housing Problem” and one stated, “If it were possible to create among the Negro masses a real desire for decent accommodations...the slums would automatically eliminate themselves.” Housing, among other issues, were part of the environment and society that African American were subjected to during Alberta Jones' time.

Civil rights work

This person contributed to the civil rights movement in the following ways: Jones was one of the first African American women to pass the Kentucky bar association after the renowned Sally J. Seals. Alberta Jones set the bar for African American women to come. When Kentucky started to desegregate schools, Jones’ merged with the Caucasian school, University  of Louisville. She then went on to rank 3rd in her graduating class. Alberta had always been a scholarly person, she was accepted into the Louisville Law School but transferred after her first year and took her talents to Howard University School of Law. She then graduated 4th in her class. Once she graduated from Howard she opened her own law office and represented famous boxer Muhammad Ali. Jones operated her practice from 2018 W. Broadway, Where she handled domestic violence cases and addressed civil rights issues.

Jones did more than set an example for what African American women could do, she was an activist and took to the streets for marches, Rally’s, and sit ins. She Participated in the March on Washington and several marches in Louisville. Jones established the independent voters association. She rented voting machines with her own money to teach African Americans how to use the machines so they could cast their votes for their elevated public officials.

Jones also contributed to the Civil Rights movement by being an active member of the Louisville Urban League and the NAACP ( The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).

Legacy and death

Alberta Jones was an adept woman. She was an African American Woman who graduated at the top of her class in undergrad and law school during the Jim Crow era and segregation era. This was unheard of before people like Sally J. Seals White. Jones followed in Sally’s footsteps and continued her work in the Civil Rights Movement. Alberta Jones did her best to uphold the Law and fight for the impoverished and unrepresented. However, The law did not protect Jones in protecting her. Jones career and death were aspiring to African Americans, seeing a black women rise to power and uphold the law was tremendously uplifting for the black community.

In August of 1965, Alberta’s body was found in the Ohio River. InitiallyInitially her death was attributed to drowning but after autopsy reports. The coroner claimed her death to be murder. She was hit over the head multiple times til she was unconscious and her body was thrown in the Ohio River. Jones’ sister, Flora Shanklin recalls her sister’s death, “She was abducted by 3 to 4 people,” she told interviewers from WDRB, “She drowned because they beat her until she was unconscious.” Once the case revealed foul play was involved, the case was dismissed. “Because things were still so segregated in Louisville then, I believe, if she had been a white woman prosecutor, they would have turned over heaven and hell to solve this,” said Jones’s sister Flora Shanklin, 81, who still lives in Louisville. “But she was black. They didn’t do anything about it.” Her family contended that her involvement in civil rights might have resulted in her death. To this day Jones hasn't gotten the justice she deserved. An “Alberta’s Louisville” banner now hangs on the River City Bank building downtown at Sixth and Muhammad Ali as part of Louisville’s Hometown Heroes program.