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Charles M. Jones

The Rev. Charles M. Jones, pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill from 1941 to 1953, drove the Journey of Reconciliation riders attacked at the bus station to his home in April 1947, and threatening calls followed. His civil rights views divided the congregation, and members left with him to found the non-denominational Community Church of Chapel Hill.

Source: Open Orange: Charles M. Jones

Also found in catalogs as Charles Miles Jones.

1906–1993 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

12 works about Charles M. Jones are indexed here, as are 4 works by Jones.

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Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

By Charles M. Jones

Oral history interview with Charles M. Jones, November 8, 1976: interview B-0041, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Jones, Charles Miles · 2008 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

A longer Southern Oral History Program interview with Presbyterian minister Charles M. Jones (1906-1993), recorded November 8, 1976, by Joseph A. Herzenberg. Jones traces his civil rights work in Chapel Hill from the 1930s into the 1960s. He characterizes town and university leaders, Frank Porter Graham among them, as cautiously liberal on race, willing to allow a little integration at performances and student activities, and describes the church's place in the town's social conflicts. Published online in 2008 in Documenting the American South.

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Charles M. Jones, July 21, 1990: interview A-0335, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Jones, Charles Miles · 2006 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

The Rev. Charles M. Jones (1906-1993), minister of Chapel Hill's Presbyterian church in the late 1940s, and his wife Dorcas talk with John Egerton in a Southern Oral History Program interview recorded July 21, 1990. Jones spends most of the hour on the disputes his stand on race provoked, when the regional presbytery objected to his conduct of the church, and his dealings with university president Frank Porter Graham. Published online in 2006 by the UNC-Chapel Hill Library in Documenting the American South.

NC Cardinal UNC

A statement by Charles M. Jones on the occasion of his withdrawing from the Presbyterian ministry : delivered at the summer meeting, Orange Presbytery, Synod of North Carolina, Presbyterian Church of the United States, held at New Hope Presbyterian Church, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, July 6, 1953.

Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993 · 1953 · C.M. Jones

Charles Miles Jones set out his reasons for leaving the Presbyterian ministry in this statement, delivered to the summer meeting of Orange Presbytery at New Hope Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill on July 6, 1953. Jones had served the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church. He printed it himself in 1953, 22 pages.

UNC

Charles Miles Jones papers, 1924-1990s.

Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993 · 1924

Charles Miles Jones, 1906 to 1993, a Presbyterian minister in Chapel Hill, left these papers covering 1924 into the 1990s, about 1,800 items in 2.5 linear feet, collection 5168 in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC. The papers concern civil rights and segregation in North Carolina, the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, the Community Church of Chapel Hill, the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen, and names including Frank Porter Graham and Bayard Rustin.

UNC

About Charles M. Jones

Faith, Grace and Heresy

Pryor, Mark · 2002 · Writer's Showcase

Mark Pryor's biography of the Rev. Charles M. Jones (1906-1993), minister of the Presbyterian church in Chapel Hill. It explores his life in relation to civil rights work, race relations and the religious response to racism in the town. Published by Writer's Showcase, San Jose, in 2002, xii and 398 pages with illustrations.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993.

UNC Duke Durham Chapel Hill PL CH Historical Society

Bible belt justice in the southern part of heaven

2001 · GK Productions

Half-hour video from GK Productions, released in Chapel Hill in 2001, centered on Charles M. Jones, the minister whose Presbyterian congregation and the later Community Church of Chapel Hill both figure in it, along with civil rights movements and racism in the town. Color with black and white sequences.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993.

UNC

The controversy between Charles Miles Jones and Orange Presbytery, 1952-53 : thesis

Johnston, Edward F., 1879-1919 · 1995 · Thesis for the University of Virginia

A thesis on the controversy between Charles Miles Jones and Orange Presbytery in 1952 and 1953, the dispute that ended his ministry at the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church. The text was reprinted in 1995 with excerpts from Jones' sermons added for the dedication of the Charles M. Jones Community Building on September 24 of that year. One volume of various pagings, with a portrait.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993.

UNC CH Historical Society

Orange Presbytery vs. Jones

Ruark, Henry Gibbons, 1908-1970 · 1953 · Christian Century Foundation

Henry Gibbons Ruark's article on the case of Orange Presbytery against Charles Miles Jones of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, printed in the Christian Century for March 18, 1953 and detached from that issue. Two pages. The dispute belongs to Presbyterian church history in North Carolina, and the presbytery takes its name from the county.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993.

UNC

Summary by Frank P. Graham of his written and spoken statements on the case of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church : January 24, 1953.

Graham, Frank Porter, 1886-1972 · 1953 · F.P. Graham

Frank Porter Graham, the former president of the University of North Carolina, gathered his written and spoken statements on the case of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church and its minister Charles M. Jones into a nine-leaf summary dated January 24, 1953. The dispute touched Presbyterians in Chapel Hill and the town's race relations.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993.

UNC

Robert L. Johnson papers, 1952-2000.

Johnson, Robert L. (Robert Leon), 1930- · 1952

About twenty items kept as the papers of Robert Leon Johnson, born 1930, spanning 1952 to 2000, half a linear foot, collection 5362 in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC. Topics include civil rights work in Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Speaker Ban Law, chaplains and religion at the University of North Carolina, the Wesley Foundation, the Presbytery of Orange, and Charles Miles Jones.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993.

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Show 2 more about Charles M. Jones

Fellowship of Southern Churchmen records, 1937-1986.

Fellowship of Southern Churchmen · 1937

Organizational records of the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen, 1937 to 1986, roughly 13,000 items in twelve linear feet, collection 3479 in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC. The records concern churches, social problems and race relations in the South, including material relating to Howard Kester, Nelle Morton, Charles Miles Jones and David S. Burgess. Black Mountain and Chapel Hill both appear as places. A preservation microfilm was made in 1985.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993.

UNC

Joseph W. Straley papers, 1936-2002.

Straley, Joseph W., 1914- · 1936

Joseph W. Straley, born 1914, taught at the University of North Carolina, and his papers, about 600 items in a linear foot and a half spanning 1936 to 2002, are in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 5252. Diaries and other primary material cover academic freedom and the Speaker Ban Law, civil rights work and segregation, the Community Church of Chapel Hill, Charles Miles Jones and Howard Lee.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993.

UNC

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

Charles M. Jones and the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, 1941–19531941–1953 · In 1953 a commission of Orange Presbytery removed Charles M. Jones as pastor of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, though his congregation had voted to keep him. By Frank Porter Graham's account, Jones sheltered the riders of both races who tested bus segregation in 1947. In November 1952 the presbytery's Judicial Commission called for a clean break, holding that he and the church had not always been true to the denomination's standards. The congregation voted 156 to 14 not to dismiss him. In February 1953 the commission dissolved the pastoral relationship, though its chairman said there were no charges or censures against Jones. After the General Assembly's commission upheld it, Jones asked to be divested of office without censure.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 26 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Charles M. Jones preaches his first sermon as pastor of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church Rev. Charles M. Jones, who came from the Presbyterian church at Brevard, preached his first sermon as regular pastor of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, and the congregation gave a reception for him and Mrs. Jones on June 6. Born in Nashville 35 years before, he had worked in insurance and automobile offices and run a restaurant before studying at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 30, 1941, p. 5
  2. Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church's officers say its doors are open to worshippers of every race The church's officers, backing their pastor Charles M. Jones, stated that a pastor must be free to act on conscience, that the church should take a vocal part in justice between the races, especially in its own community, and that while it did not encourage Black Christians to leave their own churches, it would not close its doors to or discriminate against any sincere worshipper. Frank Porter Graham wrote in 1953 that the congregation upheld this position despite the loss of a considerable number of members. People: Charles M. Jones, Frank Porter GrahamSearch the index · Internet Archive: Frank P. Graham, Summary of His Written and Spoken Statements on the Case of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church (1953), p. 16
  3. Orange County nearly doubles its 1944 infantile paralysis quota Orange County raised $2,080.50 in the 1944 infantile paralysis campaign against a quota of $1,100, by an incomplete report from state campaign secretary Mrs. Phillips Russell of Chapel Hill. Theatres collected $1,015.71, the President's Birthday Ball given by the Navy Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill brought $978.77, and the county schools gave $86.07; the Rev. Charles M. Jones led the county drive. People: Charles M. JonesThe News (Chapel Hill), February 10, 1944, p. 4
  4. The Fellowship of Southern Churchmen runs its headquarters from Chapel Hill The Fellowship of Southern Churchmen, an interracial group of Southern church people founded in 1934, kept its headquarters in Chapel Hill while Nelle Morton was general secretary from 1945 to 1949, working on race relations, labor conditions and the rural South. People: Charles M. Jones, Anne QueenSearch the index · UNC Wilson Library: Fellowship of Southern Churchmen Records, 1937-1986
  5. The Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church opens a nursery school for student veterans' children A morning nursery school for 30 children opened in the Presbyterian Sunday School building, the fourth such school in Chapel Hill since married student veterans arrived with their babies. The Rev. Charles M. Jones said it was part of a plan among the churches; the First Baptist Church had opened an all-day nursery in its basement a week earlier. People: Charles M. JonesSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 17, 1946, p. 6
  6. Charles M. Jones takes interracial bus riders into his home According to Frank Porter Graham, Jones, without being a party to the project, took into his home as a refuge from threats of violence the riders of both races who were testing the law requiring separate seats on interstate and state buses, the Journey of Reconciliation that reached Chapel Hill in April 1947. Graham added that Jones's home was once stoned and his family's safety threatened.Search the index · Internet Archive: Frank P. Graham, Summary of His Written and Spoken Statements on the Case of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church (1953), p. 15
  7. The Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church celebrates its hundredth anniversary The church marked its centennial alongside the fall meeting of Orange Presbytery, with a dinner and historical pageant on Friday and a centennial sermon by Kenneth J. Foreman on Sunday. People: Charles M. Jones, Lucy Phillips RussellSearch the index · The First Hundred Years: The Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, 1849-1949 (1950), scan p. 13
  8. Orange Presbytery appoints a judicial commission to investigate the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church Orange Presbytery appointed a Judicial Commission to investigate the total situation in the Chapel Hill church and report back. By Charles M. Jones's account, the chairman of the presbytery's council had already met with him in April, unofficially, to suggest that he quietly leave the Chapel Hill pastorate for another church. People: Charles M. JonesSearch the index · Internet Archive: Charles M. Jones, A Statement on the Occasion of His Withdrawing from the Presbyterian Ministry (1953), p. 3
  9. Orange Presbytery refuses to let Irving Birdseye move to the Chapel Hill church while it is under investigation Meeting at Burlington on July 29, 1952, Orange Presbytery voted 20 to 13 to put off indefinitely the request of the Rev. Irving E. Birdseye of the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church to become associate pastor at Chapel Hill, holding that no permanent pastor should be called there until its judicial commission finished its inquiry. Two days earlier the Hillsboro congregation had voted, with regrets, to release him, and the Chapel Hill church was left to use supply preachers while its pastor, Charles M. Jones, was on leave. People: Charles M. Jones, Irving E. BirdseyeThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 31, 1952, p. 1
  10. Robert J. McMullen becomes acting pastor of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church Robert Johnston McMullen, a retired missionary educator who had worked in China from 1911 to 1943 and had been president of Centre College, began his duties as acting pastor of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in October 1952, after Orange Presbytery's Commission on the Minister and His Work approved the congregation's call. Thomas Schaeffer of the Duke Divinity School was to preach most Sundays, and the pastor, Charles M. Jones, on a year's leave, was to return once a month. People: Charles M. JonesThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 23, 1952, p. 1
  11. The presbytery's judicial commission asks Charles M. Jones to resign The Judicial Commission of Orange Presbytery, chaired by Z. T. Piephoff, wrote Jones that a clean break should be made between him and the Chapel Hill church as quickly as possible. Its report found him deeply loved by most of the congregation and a champion of human brotherhood, but held that he and the church followed a philosophy that put religious experience before doctrine and had not always been true to the denomination's standards. With the officers unanimous and the congregation nearly so behind him, Jones declined to resign.Search the index · Internet Archive: Charles M. Jones, A Statement on the Occasion of His Withdrawing from the Presbyterian Ministry (1953), p. 3
  12. Chapel Hill Presbyterians vote 156 to 14 to keep the Rev. Charles M. Jones Meeting on December 14, 1952, the congregation of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church voted by secret ballot, 156 to 14, not to dismiss its pastor, Charles M. Jones, or its officers as Orange Presbytery's judicial commission had urged, and rejected the commission's reading of church doctrine. The vote sent the dispute to the presbytery. People: Charles M. JonesThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 18, 1952, p. 8
Show all 26 dated events
  1. Community Church of Chapel Hill forms An interracial congregation organized with Charles M. Jones as minister. People: Charles M. Jones, Joe StraleyCommunity Church — history by charlie kast
  2. Orange Presbytery gives its judicial commission final authority over Charles M. Jones After seven hours of debate on January 20, 1953, Orange Presbytery voted 54 to 21 to leave the final say over the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church and its pastor, Charles M. Jones, to its judicial commission, which could dissolve his pastorate or bring charges. Elder Frank Porter Graham spoke for Jones, and motions to suspend him for a trial period or to dissolve the commission failed. People: Charles M. Jones, Frank Porter GrahamThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 22, 1953, p. 1
  3. Orange Presbytery's commission removes Charles M. Jones as pastor of the Chapel Hill church After a called meeting of the presbytery on January 20 gave it authority to conclude the matter, and after Jones wrote on February 14 that he could not resign, the commission ordered the pastoral relationship dissolved as of March 1 because "the interests of religion imperatively demand it," and removed the church's officers. Its chairman said there were no charges or censures against Jones, who stopped all pastoral work on March 1. Robert J. McMullen, a former missionary in China, served as acting pastor.Search the index · Internet Archive: Charles M. Jones, A Statement on the Occasion of His Withdrawing from the Presbyterian Ministry (1953), p. 4
  4. The Synod orders a new hearing in the Jones case, and the General Assembly lets the removal stand Members of the Chapel Hill church appealed the removal. A commission of the Synod of North Carolina met on May 22 and on June 2 ordered Orange Presbytery to hold a new hearing, leaving the dissolution in effect meanwhile. The presbytery appealed to the General Assembly, whose commission on June 9 upheld its right to dissolve the pastorate on the ground that the interests of religion demanded it and told it to give Jones a trial if he wanted one.Search the index · Internet Archive: Charles M. Jones, A Statement on the Occasion of His Withdrawing from the Presbyterian Ministry (1953), p. 5 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 4, 1953, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 11, 1953, p. 1
  5. Charles M. Jones asks Orange Presbytery to release him from the Presbyterian ministry At the presbytery's summer meeting at New Hope Presbyterian Church, Jones declined the trial the General Assembly had offered, saying a fair hearing in that presbytery was unlikely and would only prolong the strain on the Chapel Hill congregation, and asked to be divested of office without censure. He answered the commission's report point by point and said he would go on serving in some capacity, lay or ministerial.Search the index · Internet Archive: Charles M. Jones, A Statement on the Occasion of His Withdrawing from the Presbyterian Ministry (1953), p. 6
  6. Chapel Hill's aldermen adopt an ordinance setting separate sections for Black burials in the new town cemetery The ordinance for the new Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery on the Durham road reserved some sections for Black burials and others for other races, as the old cemetery had done. The Rev. Charles Jones of the Community Church called it illiberal in a September sermon, and the citizens' committee had urged the town to rid itself of the new Black cemetery north of town. People: Charles M. Jones, John S. BennettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 24, 1954, p. 6 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 16, 1954, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 16, 1954, p. 7
  7. Chapel Hill-Carrboro churches name a committee to help schools desegregate peacefully Two weeks after the Brown decision, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Ministerial Association set up a steering committee to study how the churches could help bring a peaceful transition to non-segregated schools. Its members were the Rev. Charles Jones, Mrs. Harold Walters, George Esser Jr., the Rev. T. P. Duhart and Mrs. J. Snipes. People: Charles M. JonesSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 3, 1954, p. 4
  8. Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church calls the Rev. Vance Barron as minister A congregational meeting after morning worship called Vance Barron, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston, South Carolina, on the pulpit committee's recommendation. The pulpit had had no regular minister since Charles M. Jones went on leave two years before and then left the Presbyterian ministry; the Rev. Harry E. Smith had filled the pulpit since early spring, after the acting pastor retired in February. People: Charles M. JonesThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 19, 1954, p. 3
  9. The county school board denies a Black Carrboro couple's request to send four children to Carrboro Elementary The Orange County Board of Education turned down Darnell and Clara Mae Walden's request to move their four foster children from Chapel Hill's Northside School to the new all-white Carrboro Elementary School, which they said was a block from their Carr Street home. The Rev. Charles M. Jones and Preston Weaver, who had twice asked the Chapel Hill board to integrate, attended with the couple. People: Charles M. JonesThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 4, 1958, p. 1
  10. The county school board denies the Vickers family's appeal for a place at Carrboro Elementary After a hearing held under the state's pupil assignment law, the Orange County Board of Education denied Lee and Lattice Vickers's appeal to move their child from Northside School to the all-white Carrboro Elementary School. Their Durham attorney, whom the paper calls C. O. Pierson, had handled most NAACP school cases in the area; Carl Braden of the Southern Conference Educational Fund also attended. People: Charles M. JonesThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 11, 1958, p. 1
  11. Thirteen Chapel Hill ministers publicly back the school board's desegregation plan Thirteen white and Black ministers, nearly all the active local clergy, and the clerk of the Friends Meeting issued an open letter commending the school board's geographic first-grade plan as lawful and in keeping with their faith, and asking the mayors, police and citizens of Chapel Hill and Carrboro not to tolerate interference with the board's decisions. People: Charles M. JonesThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 13, 1961, p. 22
  12. Cogswell/Hausler design a new sanctuary for the Community Church on Purefoy Road In 1970 the firm added a two-story International Style sanctuary with stained siding and large south windows to the Community Church at 106 Purefoy Road, tied to the congregation's plain brick building of 1957 by George Matsumoto through a glass link. The integrated, nondenominational church had been founded in 1953 by the Rev. Charlie Jones and members who left Chapel Hill Presbyterian with him. People: Arthur Cogswell, Werner Hausler, George Matsumoto, Charles M. JonesNC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 94
  13. Joe and Lucy Straley receive the first Charles M. Jones award of the local ACLU The Chapel Hill-Carrboro chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union gave Joe and Lucy Straley, both 79, its Charles M. Jones award for their work for peace, social justice and racial integration. The award, begun that year, recognizes contributions to civil liberties and civil rights in Orange and Chatham counties. People: Joe Straley, Charles M. JonesSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 22, 1993, p. 2
  14. Rebecca Clark's name is added to the Peace and Justice Plaza plaque Clark, Yonni Chapman, the Rev. Charles M. Jones and Dan Pollitt were honored after their deaths for their work for civil rights, social justice and equality in Chapel Hill. Their names were added to the plaque at Peace and Justice Plaza, in front of the historic post office on Franklin Street. People: Yonni Chapman, Charles M. Jones, Daniel H. PollittSearch the index · UNC Libraries, History on the Hill: Four activists to be honored in Chapel Hill, SHC preserves documentation of their legacy

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