Butler Jones Lectures

In recognition of Butler A. Jones’ tenure at Ohio Wesleyan University, his contributions to the field of sociology and race relations, his involvement in the civil rights movement, and his commitment to the development of other scholars and professionals, the Department of Sociology/Anthropology established the Butler A. Jones Lectureship on Race and Society in September 1995 and unveiled a Butler A. Jones bust in Elliott Hall in April 1999.

Butler Jones Biography

Butler A. Jones graduated from Morehouse College in 1937, earned a master’s degree at Atlanta University and a Ph.D. from New York University. Before coming to Ohio Wesleyan University, Jones taught four years at an Atlanta high school and nine years at Talladega College in Alabama. Jones taught at Ohio Wesleyan University from 1952-1969 and headed the sociology department for eight of those years. He was named chairman of Cleveland State’s sociology department in 1969 and retired as professor emeritus in 1982. He also served visiting professorships at NYU, Oberlin, and other colleges, and was a member of 28 professional associations.

Jones assumed leadership roles in many of those associations. He founded and served as president of the American Association of Black Sociologists and was chapter president of the American Association of University Professors in three different institutions, including Ohio Wesleyan. Jones also served as chairperson on numerous organizations including the American Sociological Association, North Central Sociological Association, Society for the Study of Social Problems, the Cleveland Music School Settlement, Cleveland Community Action Against Addiction, the Delaware Civil Rights Committee, and the Cleveland Federation for Community Planning.

In contributing to the quest for equality among races, Jones submitted ten briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court in cases involving equal treatment of all citizens and completed background research for the 1940 Carnegie-Myrdal Study of African Americans.

Finally, Jones received numerous honors and awards, including the 1985 Lee-Founders Award, the North Central Sociological Association's Professional Service Award, the Cleveland Federation for Community Planning Distinguished Service Award and the Cleveland State University Distinguished Faculty Award for Community Service.

2022 Lecture

“The Hook-Up: How Race and Class are Soulmates for Life” lecture by Nina Turner, groundbreaking Ohio politician and former co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign.

Turner will speak at 7 p.m. Sep. 20 in Merrick Hall 301.

Past Lectures

Date	Title	Speaker
October 2020	“Race and the Right to Vote in Ohio: A New Look at the Old Struggle for Inclusion”	Ric S. Sheffield, Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies Kenyon College
March 2019	“The Central Park Five: Film Screening and Discussion”	Sarah Burns, Author and Filmmaker
February 2018	“Building a Reflective Democracy: The Intersection Between Social Justice and Electoral Politics”	Jessica Byrd, Social Activist and Political Organizer
March 2017	“We Are All Emigrants”	Ilhan Omar, First Somali-American, Muslim woman in the U.S. elected to a State Legislature
February 2016	“From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter: Gender, Sexuality and Black Social Movements”	Patricia Hill Collins, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland
April 2015	“High Price: Promoting Social Justice Through a Neuropsychopharmacology Lens”	Carl Hart, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Columbia University
September 2013	“Climate and Environmental Justice”	Michael Dorsey Visiting Fellow, Professor of Environmental Studies College of the Environment, Wesleyan University
November 2012	“We Still Live Here”	Anne Makepeace Film Writer/Director/Producer
March 2012	“Race and Neighborhood Crime in Urban Areas”	Ruth Peterson Professor Emeritus Department of Sociology, Ohio Wesleyan University Retiree Faculty Criminal Justice Research Center, The Ohio State University
March 2011	“With Justice for All”	Morris Dees Founder, Chief Trial Attorney Southern Poverty Law Center
April 2010	“Anatomy of Hate”	Mike Ransdell Director
October 2008	“Reflections on the Role of Race in the 2008 Presidential Election”	Korie Edwards Assistant Professor of Sociology The Ohio State University
January 2008	“The American Role in the Fall of Haitian Democracy”	Randall Robinson Author ‘An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President’ Founder, Past President TransAfrica
April 2007	“Violence and the Inner City Poor”	Elijah Anderson The Charles and William Day Distinguished Professor of Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology University of Pennsylvania
February 2006	“Hip-Hop: Music or Movement?”	Kenyon Rashan Farrow ’97 Writer, Lecturer
April 2005	“Latino Immigrants: The New Civil Rights Movement in the United States”	Baldemar Velasquez President Farm Labor Organizing Committee
January 2005	“The Enduring Paradox: The American Dream and the American Dilemma”	Dr. Charles Bennett Pastor Dayspring Community Church Adjunct Professor Interdenominatinoal Theological School
January 2004	“The Relevance of Nonviolent Action”	Mary King ’62 Civil Rights Activist, Author
April 2003	“Donkeys of the University: Women and the Transformation of South African Higher Education”	Reitumetse Mabokela ’92 Professor Department of Educational Administration, Michigan State University
April 2002	“Afghanistan: A Multiethnic Country With a Tortured Past and Uncertain Future”	Alam Paynid Director of OSU Middle East Studies Center, Adjunct Professor The Ohio State University Professor Kabul University
February 2002	“Politics of Race and Violence in the United States”	James Upton Professor of African-American and African Studies The Ohio State University
March 2001	“From Civil Rights to Florida – Ending the Second Reconstruction: An Examination of ‘Race’ at the Turn of the Centuries”	Robert Newby Professor of Sociology Central Michigan University
April 2000	“Race, Nations, and the Global African Diaspora”	Ruth Simms Hamilton Professor of Sociology and Urban Affairs Michigan State University Author ‘Racial Conflict, Discrimination, and Power and Urbanization in West Africa’
April 1999	“The Promise of Brown: Educational Equity After 45 Years”	Edgar Epps Professor of Education Emeritus University of Chicago
March 1998	“Race as a System of Power”	Patricia Hill Collins Professor of Sociology and African American Studies University of Cincinnati Author ‘Black Feminist Thought’ and ‘Race, Class, and Gender’
February 1997	“The New Social Inequality and Race Based Public Policy”	William Julius Wilson Professor of Social Policy John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Past President American Sociological Association
September 1995	No title available (inaugural Butler Jones Lecture)	Andrew Billingsley Sociologist, Author ‘Climbing Jacob’s Ladder: The Enduring Legacy of African American Families’

Department Contact Info

Location

Elliott Hall 205
Ohio Wesleyan University
Delaware, OH 43015

P 740-368-3835

Department Contact

Department Chair: Paul Dean
Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Justice
Elliott Hall 312
740-368-3837
psdean@owu.edu

Academic Assistant: Dawn Wright
Elliott Hall 110
740-368-3631
dmwright@owu.edu