Marvis LaVerne Kneeland-Jones, One of the Memphis State Eight, Believed in Education

Marvis LaVerne Kneeland-Jones

Academic achievement was “foundational” and a “focus” in the Jones household, according to Dorothy D. Jones, the youngest of Marvis LaVerne Kneeland-Jones’s four children.

“She really led the charge with all of her kids,” Jones said.

Kneeland-Jones was an influential educator, musician, businesswoman, civil rights activist, and, most notably, a member of the Memphis State Eight that included Eleanor Gandy, Rose Blakney-Love, Sammie Burnett Johnson, Luther McClellan, Ralph Prater, John Simpson, and Bertha Rogers Looney.

Kneeland-Jones and her colleagues drew national attention in the fall of 1959 when they were the first Black students to integrate Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis.

Kneeland-Jones died March 13 at her home in Memphis. She was 81. Bertha Rogers Looney, Luther McClellan and Ralph Prater are the only surviving members.

Jones said those days on campus were “tough times” for her mother, who never tried to suppress those painful memories or keep her children from learning what she and the others endured in their pursuit of a college education.

They were vilified, harassed, and ostracized, even after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that separate education was “inherently unequal.”

“It was an emotional toll on her,” said Jones, remembering what her mother had told her. “A lot of those memories resurfaced, and she started talking about how it was very hard during that time.”

As daunting as it was battling discrimination, Kneeland-Jones was determined to succeed despite the obstacles. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from the university in elementary education and a Master of Science degree in education as well.

After years of study, Kneeland-Jones began teaching in Memphis City Schools and inspired hundreds of children to succeed. She taught school for 25 years and capped off a career in teaching that began in earnest and never waned.

“The same effort and tenacity she dealt with education, with her students, she did the same thing with her children,” Jones said. “She made sure that each of us had individualized and customized learning opportunities based on each child’s needs.”  

Jones said she and her siblings – Dr. Gladys A. Jones, Rufus E. Jones Jr., and Dr. Ida L. Jones Pittman – were educated in public, private, and boarding schools – or a combination thereof. And each one graduated college. 

“She set the example for us aspiring to get advanced-level degrees as well,” Jones said.

Music also was “critically important” in the Jones household, Jones said. Her mother, she pointed out, was a classical pianist and played for Washington Chapel CME Church. 

“We all played instruments,” she said.

Kneeland-Jones shared parenting responsibilities with her husband of 57 years, Tennessee’s state Rep. Rufus E. Jones Sr., a statesman, sales tax auditor, lobbyist, and trailblazing entrepreneur, who held the legislative position for 16 years. 

Kneeland-Jones met her husband on a blind date. Sammy Burnett Johnson, a member of the Memphis State Eight, had arranged the date, Jones said. He “introduced my mom to my dad.”

Rufus E. Jones Sr, then a promising entrepreneur, was finishing up at Michigan State University at the time, Jones said, adding, “So they started their courtship after that.” 

He died in 2019. In addition to his political quick wit, he was an advocate for economic development and the reputed proprietor of Jones Big Star #102 grocery store, one of his notable entrepreneurial endeavors. 

Kneeland-Jones was a powerhouse in her own right as an education advocate, organizer of voting registration drives, and worked with charitable and civic organizations. She also operated her own business and supported her husband’s endeavors, including his political campaigns.

She was a charter member of the Shelby County (TN) Chapter of the LINKS, Incorporated, The Friends of the Memphis and Shelby County Libraries, Washington Chapel C.M.E. Church, and the National, Tennessee, and Memphis Education Associations.

In 2000, the University of Memphis established the Memphis State Eight Best Paper Prize for the best historical paper on the African American experience in honor of the Memphis State Eight.

And in 2006, Shirley Raines, then-president of the U of M, invited the Memphis State Eight back to the campus to pay tribute to the eight trailblazers with a former dinner and reception. 

A historical marker was placed outside the U of M’s Administration Building in 2012. Seven of the eight former students were present for the presentation, including Kneeland-Jones.

She also was among five of the eight trailblazers in 2019 to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of that day when they courageously broke the color barrier and stepped into the annals of history.

Memorial services for Kneeland-Jones were held March 21 at Mt. Olive Cathedral C.M.E. Church. 

Remembering John A. Simpson of the Memphis State Eight

The Memphis State Eight (circa 1959): Luther McClellan, Marvis Kneeland Jones,
Sammie Johnson, Ralph Prater, Eleanor Gandy, Rose Blakney Love, Bertha
Rogers Looney and John Simpson. (Courtesy photo)

In the fall of 1959, eight African-American students broke the color barrier and integrated the former Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). Known as the “Memphis State Eight,” four of the eight are now deceased.

John Arthur Simpson is the latest member to die, on Feb. 8. Two others also died, ironically, in February, Black History Month: Eleanor Gandy, 76, who died Feb. 6, 2017, in Charlotte, N. C.; and Rose Blakney-Love, 75, who died Feb. 12, 2017, in Memphis. Sammie Burnette Johnson, 71, died on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday on Jan. 15, 2011. 

Robert E. Simpson Sr. has fond memories of his brother. “We were closer than most brothers. We were inseparable,” he said. “We went to church together, sang in the male chorus together, went to the Grizzlies games together. We enjoyed our relationship as brothers.”

John Arthur Simpson

Mr. Simpson was eulogized on Feb. 14 at Trinity Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. He was 78. Friends and loved ones paid respect to a man who unwittingly made history by defying the status quo.

He and seven others, with moxie aplenty, challenged the university and gained entrance into the all-white institution that once judged them based on the color of their skin rather than scholarship.

Mr. Simpson has been laid to rest now. His accomplishments are duly noted in his obituary and in the annals of history. As Black History Month winds down, only four of the Memphis State Eight remain: Luther McClellan, Marvis Kneeland Jones, Ralph Prater and Bertha Rogers Looney.

 “Last year in September we celebrated 60 years,” said Looney, recalling the 18th day of that month when the University of Memphis honored the five remaining members of the Memphis State Eight.

“I thought it was ironic that we were caught up in history,” she said.

Looney remembers Mr. Simpson as an intellectual who wanted to make sure that everyone was doing well. “I admired him. He was a great person,” she said. “When I walk back on campus, his spirit will be with me.”

“They all seemed to weather the storm and came out balanced,” Simpson said. However, he added that his brother soon grew tired of the rigmarole and didn’t finish Memphis State.

He left the university and married his sweetheart in 1961 from Manassas High School, the former Marion Larkin. He also joined the U.S. Air Force that year and remained for 28 years and retired with the rank of major. After returning to Memphis, he joined MetLife as a retirement marketing sales representative.

Mr. Simpson had made a life for himself after his ordeal at Memphis State University and joined the ranks of other trailblazers who found themselves embroiled in the Civil Rights Movement.

Much to his chagrin, Mr. Simpson had other plans.

“He didn’t like the way he was being treated at Memphis State. They had to sit in a special area. They couldn’t go to the games,” said Markhum “Mark” L. Stansbury Sr., who served as special assistant to Dr. Shirley Raines and three other university presidents.

Once denied admission to the university, Stansbury advocated for the Memphis State Eight. Soon a historical marker was erected in front of the Administration Building in 2006. Raines, then president of the university, welcomed the trailblazers back on campus for the special honor.

Mr. Simpson was in attendance, Looney said, and, like the other trailblazers, welcomed the fanfare. Sixty years ago, they were isolated and faced unbearable hardships trying to get a college education. Now they are celebrated.

Stansbury said he noticed nearly a dozen non-blacks at Mr. Simpson’s funeral. “Back in the day, they couldn’t accept you. Now 60 years later, non-blacks can accept you for what you did.”

New book about leadership lessons includes Memphis State Eight

Dr. Shirley Raines, former U of M president and author of "An Uncommon
Journey," recognizes Bertha Mae Rogers Looney (right of Raines) and Luther
McClellan, two members of the Memphis State Eight, during a book talk Jan. 26
at Novel Memphis. (Photos by Wiley Henry)

Nearly 60 years ago, eight black students – known as the Memphis State Eight – integrated the former Memphis State University. Before the name was changed to the University of Memphis in 1994, J. Millard (Jack) Smith, who was president from 1946 to 1960, reportedly said, “No blacks shall be admitted as long as I’m president.”

Dr. Shirley Raines, the affable president of the U of M from 2001 to 2013, had no problem acknowledging the history-making trailblazers who shattered the color barrier in 1959: Luther McClellan, Marvis Kneeland Jones, Ralph Prater, John Simpson, Bertha Mae Rogers Looney, Eleanor Gandy, Rose Blakney-Love and Sammie Burnett Johnson.

She pointed out two of them among the audience – McClellan and Looney – who came to hear her expatiate on her new book during a book talk and book signing Jan. 26 at Novel Memphis in the Laurelwood Shopping Center.

Raines is a capable storyteller, an effervescent spirit, which is quite evident in the stories she’s woven together comprising the book “An Uncommon Journey: Leadership Lessons from a Preschool Teacher Who Became a University President.”

“The stories are told from the experiences that you helped me live,” said Raines, speaker, consultant and author, interacting with the surrounding audience.

Dr. Shirley Raines autographs a copy of her book for Luther McClellan.

The Memphis State Eight gets a nod in the book. She first recognized the significance of their rightful place in history and hosted a former dinner and reception in their honor on campus in 2006. A historical marker was erected in front of the Administration Building in 2012.

Much of the credit goes to Markhum “Mark” L. Stansbury Sr., then special assistant to Raines and a longtime luminary over the airwaves at 1070 WDIA. He didn’t want the group to be forgotten and their determination to pursue a college education under dire conditions to be omitted from the annals of history.

“Dr. Raines was really a great president. She was sincere and open to change. And I appreciate her sincerity,” said McClellan, who left Memphis in 1962 during his sophomore year at the university.

“It’s amazing. It’s overwhelming,” added Looney, acknowledging the attention the group has been receiving and the “small contribution” that she said she’d made during that turbulent era in Memphis’ history.

She didn’t want to speak ill will of Smith during his day; however, she did speak favorably of Raines: “Dr. Raines is awesome. It reflects the leadership she gave to the university.”

 “They mean so much to me,” said Raines, recognizing her supporters and others in the audience (including Stansbury) who helped to shape her career as a leader and an academic. She rose from humble beginnings on a sharecropper’s farm in Bells, Tenn., to serving a stint in early childhood education, to serving at the helm of the university as its first female president.

Bells is a quaint city in Crocket County, Tenn., 72.9 miles from her home in Memphis “to be exact,” said Raines, who first eyed the big city of Memphis while growing up in Bells.

“Memphis was always special to me,” she told the audience. “I always wanted to live in Memphis…if the cotton crop was good.”

Born on the farm, Raines’ hardworking parents didn’t quite see the sunny side of an education after high school. Her mother had a 12th-grade education, she said, and her father made it to eighth-grade.

Why write the book?

“I wrote this book to tell my stories, and to inspire leaders, especially aspiring women leaders, who are wondering if they should take their next leadership step,” Raines explained in the book’s preface.

She’s had some invaluable experiences and life lessons on her journey from Bells to Memphis and developed the skillset that would catapult her as a formidable leader tasked with an awesome responsibility. This is the crux of the book.

The manuscript started out at 600 pages, she said, “but my editor said nobody would buy it. So I cut it to 300 pages.” Then she whittled the book down again to about “170-something” pages.

The book starts out with Raines’ formative years and builds from there until she lands the big enchilada at the U of M that naysayers, including her husband, didn’t think she would be selected.

“I was really nervous and really wanted the job,” said Raines, who interviewed with the search committee. “My husband told me that I couldn’t do it. So I had to do it.”

Laughter followed.

She did it her way and set the U of M on a trajectory going forward. She created The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change, for example, and raised millions for the U of M Community Health Building.

“It was a great university before we got there, but we made it better,” Raines said unapologetically, owing her success to the life-lessons she learned over the years and her ability to lead the way.

“I always thought Dr. Raines was a great person. But on yesterday (Jan. 26), her stock went up with me,” said Stansbury, who shared the same sentiments about Raines with his radio listening audience.

Two members from ‘Memphis State 8’ die days apart

The Memphis State Eight: The late Rose Blakney-Love (l to r), the late Eleanor Gandy, Bertha
Rogers-Looney, Luther McClellan, John Simpson, Marvis Laverne Kneeland-Jones (seated).
Not pictured are Ralph Prater and the late Sammie Burnett-Johnson. (Photo by Mark Stansbury Sr.)

On Sept. 18,1959, eight black students walked onto a white college campus when racial tension was seething and forever became known as the “Memphis State Eight.”

Three of the members have died – two recently: Eleanor Gandy, 76, on Feb. 6 in Charlotte, North Carolina; and Rose Blakney-Love, 75, on Feb. 12 in Memphis. Sammie Burnett Johnson, 71, was the first to die in 2011.

Five of the eight members remain: Luther McClellan, Marvis Kneeland Jones, Ralph Prater, John Simpson and Bertha Rogers Looney.

Their courage and determination to integrate the former Memphis State University during the burgeoning civil rights movement may have gone unnoticed if Markhum “Mark” L. Stansbury Sr. had not recognized their historical significance as trailblazers.

“We need to recognize the Memphis State Eight,” Stansbury urged Dr. Shirley Raines when she served as president of the current University of Memphis where he worked as her special assistant.

A photojournalist and trailblazer himself, Stansbury did not want the actions the group took in 1959 to become just a footnote in history or, worse, languish in obscurity. He knew their actions were just that important for posterity.

Raines was convinced the eight trailblazers deserved the recognition and their rightful place in the annals of history. She welcomed them back on campus in 2006 to a rousing reception and ceremony in their honor.

The group’s exploits would catch the attention of the media from time to time and eventually lead to the presentation of a historical marker in front of the Administration Building.

“My life was made richer by knowing them and admiring their courage,” Raines wrote in an email. “It was my distinct honor to have the historical marker honoring them placed on the University of Memphis campus.” 

Stansbury admires the eight trailblazers’ courage as well for defying the University’s racist admissions policy and their disdain for black students at that time. He once tried to enroll, but was denied. He would serve four different presidents nearly 20 years.

Dr. Miriam DeCosta-Willis, who tried to enroll in the university’s graduate program two years before the group’s decision to challenge the all-white faculty and student body, was not accepted either.

An activist, scholar, author and retired university professor, DeCosta-Willis said Gandy, Blakney-Love and Johnson are a passing generation of civil rights fighters. She was shaken by the recent deaths of Gandy and Blakney-Love.

“I mourn the loss of those two valiant individuals,” said DeCosta-Willis. “Now three of the eight are gone. It’s very troubling.”

She was saddened too “when I read that two very courageous fighters were down. I hope people will understand their courage and fortitude. What they went through was abominable.”

They were vilified, harassed and ostracized even after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that separate education was “inherently unequal.” Still, torment and loneliness would follow the eight students on campus each day they were subjected to the harsh reality of racism.

In spite of all the hoopla surrounding their contentious enrollment, the eight students kept their eyes on the prize: a college degree – whether it was conferred by the university or obtained at other colleges where some of the members opted to attend.

Equating the courage and moxie of the Memphis State 8 with Maxine Smith, Vasco Smith and Benjamin L. Hooks, DeCosta-Willis said Gandy, Blakney-Love and Johnson were treasures.

“I hope young people understand the sacrifice they made,” she said. “Sometimes we take for granted what they were able to accomplish.”

Gandy would go on to graduate from the University in 1963. In 1996, she earned a master’s degree in education from Mississippi State University. After graduation, she taught French in Memphis City Schools for more than 20 years.

Two years after integrating the University, Blakney-Love left to get married and went to work for the Tennessee Board of Parole.

“We extend our sympathies to the families of Eleanor Gandy and Rose Blakney-Love,” said U of M president David Rudd in a released statement. “As we continue to grow as a University, we hope the courage and strength shown by these two groundbreaking students will inspire future generations to stand up for what they believe in, and to fight for social justice.”