Joshua Henry Jones, Jr.: Author Page
Joshua Henry Jones, Jr. (?--1955) was born and raised in Orangeburg South Carolina. As the son of Bishop J.H. Jones of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, he had access to a first-class education, culminating in his graduation from Brown University in 1903. Some critics have described him as a World War I veteran, and while some of his poems addressed the war, we are still working on verification of this (Kerlin's biographical note about Jones, written in 1923, does not mention any military service).
After his graduation, Jones dedicated himself to writing, working on staffs of several New England newspapers. His first book of poems, The Heart of the World (1919), had two editions, while his second collection, Poems of the Four Seas (1921) has one edition.
Whether or not Jones served in the military, several of his poems do deal with World War I as a historical phenomenon. His poem “The Heart of the World” was inspired by President Woodrow Wilson’s speech about peace from a conference in 1919. Here, Jones calls for peace, justice, love, and divine unity as he yearns for a better world. Conversely, “They’ve Lynched a Man in Dixie” contends with racialized violence and points to the hypocrisy of those who commit these atrocities while professing to uphold true Christian and American values.
Works Cited
Kerlin, Robert Thomas. Negro Poets and Their Poems. United States, Associated Publishers, Incorporated, 1923.