Oral history interview with Edward F. Jones, 3 Nov. 2006.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

This interview was recorded in digital format using a Marantz PMD671 solid state recorder. The interview was recorded in .wav format at 48 khz and 16 bit and was converted to .mp3 format for access.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Oral history interview with Nashville businessman and civic leader Edward F. (Eddie) Jones, conducted 3 Nov. 2006 by Cabot Pyle as part of The Turner Interviews series of the Nashville Public Library's Nashville Business Leaders Oral History Project. During the 1 hour interview, Jones discusses such topics as growing up in East Nashville during the Great Depression; how he became a journalist and started working for the Nashville Banner newspaper; enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps and serving in World World War II; serving as Public Information Officer for Safety Commissioner Hilton Butler during the 1950s; serving as speech writing and Press Secretary for Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement; his role in the liquor by the drink campaign; his involvement with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce; the formation of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County; running for Nashville Mayor; serving as Editor of the Nashville Banner and the closing of the newspaper in 1998; Nashville's civil rights movement; the Watauga Society; qualities that make it possible to recruit businesses to Nashville; his legacy; and Nashville's future.

Cite as: Oral history interview with Edward F. Jones, The Turner Interviews, Nashville Business Leaders Oral History Project, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library.

This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code)

Nashville businessman and civic leader. Born in Lawrence County in 1924, Edward F. (Eddie) Jones moved to East Nashville at the age of five, during the Great Depression. He attended East High School and, later, Washington and Lee University. While at Washington and Lee, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942. While waiting for assignment to active duty, he got a job as a reporter on the police beat at the Nashville Banner from Fred Russell. Jones served as a fighter pilot during World War II and was assigned to the 22nd Tactical Air Command of the 12th Air Force. He flew 76 combat missions in P-47 Thunderbolts, mostly air support and strafing ground targets in support of the Fifth Army and 10th Mountain Division. After the war, Jones was assigned to public information duty at Lackland Air Force Base. Jones went on to work at 2 radio stations, in Corpus Christi and San Antonio, and then returned to Nashville to work at WMAK radio (then located in the Maxwell House Hotel). He worked as a reporter and columnist for the Nashville Banner from 1949 to 1956, later served as the newspaper's senior vice-president, and was named editor in 1987. Jones served as Public Information Officer for Safety Commissioner Hilton Butler from 1956 to 1958. He then moved to Washington, D.C., to work on a congressional sub-committee on traffic safety from 1958 to 1959. He returned to Nashville to work as Public Information Officer for Tennessee Adjutant General Hilton Butler, then moved with Butler when he was named Commissioner of Revenue. Jones became Press Director for Frank G. Clement's gubernatorial campaign in 1962 and became Press Secretary for Governor Clement after the election. Jones was made a member of Clement's cabinet in 1966. In January 1967, Jones began working for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce on the liquor-by-the-drink issue. He became Director of Civic and Governmental Affairs for the Chamber and later became the Chamber's Executive Vice-President, serving in that capacity from 1968 to 1986. Jones ran as a candidate for Nashville Mayor in 1987. He joined the public relations and advertising firm of Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence as a senior consultant in 1998. Jones is active in the Episcopal Church and is maarried to the former Wanda Smith Tindall, the first woman in Nashville to pass the NY Stock Exchange exam.

In English.

Index available in repository.

Forms part of: Nashville Business Leaders Oral History Project: The Turner Interviews.