Margaret Meadows Jones

Margaret grew up in a family where she reported that her parents “had good jobs and made a good living.”  Thousands of families like Margaret’s were able to have “good” jobs in Tuskegee during the Jim Crow era.  Children of the Struggle outlines Tuskegee University's role in creating economic, educational, political, and social opportunities for the citizens of Macon County and surrounding areas.

Margaret’s father worked at the famed Veterans Administration Hospital that had been established for Black veterans after WW1. Tuskegee donated 300 acres of land to the federal government to build the hospital and worked hand in hand with the NAACP to ensure Black administrators and doctors had autonomy.  The original proposal supported by local White politicians was for all VA hospital administrators to be White and for Black doctors to to report to White doctors.

Margaret’s mother was an educator trained at Tuskegee Institute’s famed teacher education department.  Margaret obtained her bachelor’s degree at Tuskegee, decided to remain in Tuskegee as her parents and grandparents had done, and worked in various governmental jobs there during her career.