Barbara Ann Posey Jones facts for kids

Barbara Ann Posey Jones (born 1943) is an American economist. When she was a high school student, she became a leader in important protests called "sit-ins." These sit-ins helped to end unfair rules that separated people based on their race. Since 1971, she has been a professor and a leader at several colleges. These colleges are known as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). She also led the National Economic Association, a group for economists.

In 2021, she received the Suzan Shown Harjo Systemic Social Justice Award. This award honors people who work for fairness and equality. In 2024, the University of Oklahoma gave her a special honorary degree. They recognized that her actions in the Oklahoma City sit-ins helped to end segregation across the country.

A Young Leader for Change

Barbara Ann Posey Jones joined the youth group of the NAACP in Oklahoma City when she was 14. The NAACP is a civil rights organization. On a trip to New York City, she ate at a lunch counter for the first time. This was a big deal because, in many places, Black people were not allowed to eat at the same counters as white people.

When she returned home, she became a spokesperson for the youth lunch counter sit-ins in Oklahoma. These protests happened from 1958 to 1959. During a sit-in, people would sit at a lunch counter and refuse to leave. They did this even if they were not served. This was a peaceful way to protest unfair rules.

In 1958, a sorority named her "Girl of the Year." A magazine called Datebook published her article, "Why I Sit In," in 1960. She also gave a speech called "My America" at a big NAACP meeting in June 1960.

She graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1963. She then earned a master's degree in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1966. There, she met her husband, Mack Jones, at an NAACP meeting in 1962. She later earned her PhD in economics from Georgia State University in 1973.

A Career in Economics

Dr. Jones began her career as an economics professor at Texas Southern University. She then taught at Clark College, which later became Clark Atlanta University. She even became the head of the economics department there before finishing her PhD. She taught at Clark College from 1971 to 1987. During this time, she won many awards for her teaching.

In 1987, she joined Prairie View A&M as the head of their department. She quickly became the Dean of the College of Business, serving from 1989 to 1997. A dean is a leader in a college or university. In 1997, she became the Dean of the School of Business at Alabama A&M University. She continued to teach economics there until she retired in 2016.