Childhood
Venus Romance Jones was born to Bessie and Albert Jones on July 22, 1947.1 She was raised in Petersburg, Virginia. Her mother, Bessie, was a school teacher and civil rights activist.2 Bessie encouraged an interest in the sciences in her children as well as her students; Venus was particularly receptive to this encouragement. Her father, Albert, was a tank commander in the army and then a teacher and a principal.3 Both were dedicated parents who ran a household that encouraged learning and creativity. Bessie frequently put on dance recitals for her children before bedtime, and Albert taught her how to box. Her parents fostered her early interest in science by giving her a chemistry set, which she played with often as a child.4
Venus Jones also took an interest in caring for others at a young age. She was often responsible for looking after her siblings, which she treated like a game rather than a chore. Her brother, Albert, remembers that she would take him everywhere with her, leading him by the hand. As they grew older, Venus Jones would even use the boxing skills she had learned from her father to defend her brother from trouble.5 Venus Jones was both studious and outgoing, even from childhood.
Later, her compassion and commitment to caring for others carried over into her studies. During her years as a student at Peabody High School, a segregated public school in Petersburg, her mind was set on becoming a physician.6 Venus Jones chose to pursue a science-oriented curriculum while at Peabody High School, and excelled. Her brother remembers that she won multiple regional competitions that tested her knowledge in the sciences, particularly chemistry.7 She and her classmates received a high quality education from dedicated teachers, and Venus Jones was determined to go above and beyond.8
Venus Jones was not only fully invested in her academic work, but in her extracurricular activities as well. She displayed a wide variety of interests, participating in marching band, foreign language club, and science club.9 Venus Jones was also a member of youth civil rights organizations, where she would help to distribute sample ballots throughout Black communities and educate others on how to vote.10 Fellow peers remember Venus Jones as well-rounded, confident in herself, and determined to succeed, no matter the obstacles she faced.11
Education
Initially, Venus Jones wished to be admitted into the University of Virginia’s pre-med program for her undergraduate education. However, the university was not accepting women into their undergraduate program at the time, and only allowed women to transfer from other schools and enroll in their graduate programs. Administrators encouraged Venus Jones to attend Mary Washington College, which was the University of Virginia’s school for women at the time. Venus Jones enrolled in Mary Washington College (now the University of Mary Washington) in 1965. While at Mary Washington, she was one of five black residential students, the other students being Chris Hall, Claudith “Dottie” Holmes, and Anita and Orita Whitehead. All incoming Black freshmen were paired as roommates with each other. When faced with this situation, Venus Jones and her roommate came to an agreement to go their separate ways in an attempt to meet new people as much as possible to avoid the thought that they were “sticking together.”12 In an article by the Free Lance Star, Venus Jones described that she did not have problems with the students but did have a few with the older people and some of the older head residents.13 This was further explained by Chip Cartright, a lifelong friend of Venus Jones. He remembered that she would encounter white students who were surprised that she was a student there, and that she was in a position in which she had to educate her peers. “She had to be tolerant of their questions, ‘cause sometimes they didn’t know quite how to phrase them, and sometimes they just phrase them based on their heritage and what they had heard, and so you had to take a deep breath and say ‘How do I want to respond to this?’”14
Chip Cartwright said that when Venus Jones was turned away from the University of Virginia, she was going to get there, even if she could not start there directly. Cartwright remembered her stating that she was “going to do it quicker and then get back to UVA.”15 Venus Jones did just that when she completed her requirements for a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in just three years. She became the first Black student to graduate from the Mary Washington College when she graduated as part of the Class of 1968.
Following her graduation from the Mary Washington College, she enrolled in medical school at the University of Virginia and was the only black woman in her class. Her world changed as she entered this new school. When later discussing her new environment at the University of Virginia, she said, “Once I left Mary Washington I was in an all male society, and problems I had then arose from being female rather than being black.” She had also experienced a new difficulty in this environment, stating, “I could never quite figure out whether it was difficult because there were so few girls — there were only six girls in our class. You were stuck with, ‘Is it race? Is it sexism?’”16 Venus Jones rose above these challenges and focused on her work, describing it as both “a lot of hard work” and “a lot of fun.”17 She graduated from medical school in 1972.
Accomplishments
After she graduated from medical school, at the University of Virginia in 1972, Dr. Jones moved to Phoenix, Arizona. There she had a medical internship working with the local Native American population. After that, she moved to San Francisco and completed her residency at the Children’s Hospital of San Francisco. She then continued her education by coming back to the University of Virginia for a residency in neurology, followed by a fellowship in epilepsy.18
Dr. Jones joined the Air Force and rose to become the chief of neurology while stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. She led a small team, and was described by her coworkers as having warmth and humor. As the only Air Force neurologist on the East coast, Dr. Jones saw patients from all over the U.S. and Europe and acted as a consultant to the Surgeon General. When asked about being a doctor, she responded, “I’m fortunate that that’s what I chose to do, and I really enjoy doing it, so it’s not a chore.” and that it “builds backbone because you learn to handle anything.”19 After many years working with the Air Force, Dr. Jones retired from the military at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.20
Outside of her work, Dr. Jones continued her commitment to helping others. A friend described her as “someone who genuinely loved people… who was willing to help whether she knew them or not.”21 During her time in Virginia, Dr. Jones volunteered with the Prince George County’s search and rescue team and participated in several medical relief missions to Haiti. On one of these missions she met Odell, a young boy who was hospitalized in the country. She adopted him and after two years was able to bring him to her new home in Clarksdale, Mississippi. There, she opened a private practice neurology clinic and owned a ranch where she used her love of horses and skill as an equestrian to mentor underprivileged children in her community. Her brother, Albert Jones III, recalled that she often invited neighborhood kids to the ranch for holidays and looked after them even though she was not their biological mother. Mr. Jones reports that “everybody’s fine and healthy,” as he has kept in touch with many of these mentees.22
In 2001 while she was driving to work, Dr. Jones was struck by a fatal brain aneurysm. Losing control of the truck she was driving, the vehicle crashed. Though she was quickly flown to a hospital in Tennessee for emergency care, it was too late. When asked what she would have wanted her legacy to be, Mr. Jones said “I think that the whole idea that you can live your dreams, you can plan your life, you can make your own roadmap to success, you can write your own biography,” is what she would want to be remembered for.23
Footnotes
1.“Dr Venus Romance Jones,” Find a Grave, accessed March 14, 2022, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7173674/venus-romance-jones.
2.Albert Jones, interview by Erin Devlin, November 4, 2021; Carmencita Stewart, interview by Erin Devlin, November 9, 2021; Chip Cartwright, interview by Erin Devlin, November 16, 2021; “Bessie Reid Jones,” Find a Grave, accessed March 31, 2022, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/82145384/bessie-jones.
3.Albert Jones, interview by Erin Devlin, November 4, 2021; Chip Cartwright, interview by Erin Devlin, November 16, 2021; “Albert Walter Jones Jr.,” Find a Grave, accessed March 31, 2022, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7173938/albert-walter-jones.
4. Albert Jones, interview by Erin Devlin, November 4, 2021.
5. Ibid.
6. Lillie Cannon Williams, interview by Erin Devlin, November 9, 2021; Carmencita Stewart, interview by Erin Devlin, November 9, 2021.
7. Albert Jones, interview by Erin Devlin, November 4, 2021.
8. Chip Cartwright, interview by Erin Devlin, November 16, 2021; Carmencita Stewart, interview by Erin Devlin, November 9, 2021.
9. Lillie Cannon Williams, interview by Erin Devlin, November 9, 2021; Albert Jones, interview by Erin Devlin, November 4, 2021; Carmencita Stewart, interview by Erin Devlin, November 9, 2021.
10. Albert Jones, interview by Erin Devlin, November 4, 2021.
11. Lillie Cannon Williams, interview by Erin Devlin, November 9, 2021; Chip Cartwright, interview by Erin Devlin, November 16, 2021;Albert Jones, interview by Erin Devlin, November 4, 2021.
12. Laura Moyer, “Remembering Venus R. Jones,” University of Mary Washington Magazine, April 27, 2018, accessed March 30, 2022, https://magazine.umw.edu/spring2018/departments/1564/.
13. Linda Evans, “Venus Jones,” Mary Washington College Today, Winter 1981, accessed March 30, 2022, https://archive.org/details/mwctoday1981wint06univ/mode/2up?view=theater&q=venus+jones.
14. Chip Cartwright, interview by Erin Devlin, November 16, 2021.
15. Ibid.
16. Linda Evans, “Venus Jones,” Mary Washington College Today, Winter 1981, accessed March 30, 2022, https://archive.org/details/mwctoday1981wint06univ/mode/2up?view=theater&q=venus+jones.
17. Ibid.
24. Laura Moyer, “Remembering Venus R. Jones,” University of Mary Washington Magazine, April 27, 2018, accessed March 30, 2022, https://magazine.umw.edu/spring2018/departments/1564/.
21. Lillie Cannon Williams, interview by Erin Devlin, November 9, 2021
22. Albert Jones, interview by Erin Devlin, November 4, 2021
23. Ibid.
Bibliography
“Albert Walter Jones Jr.” Find a Grave. Accessed March 31, 2022.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7173938/albert-walter-jones.
“Bessie Reid Jones.” Find a Grave. Accessed March 31, 2022.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/82145384/bessie-jones.
Cartwright, Chip. Interviewed by Erin Devlin, November 16, 2021.
“Dr Venus Romance Jones.” Find a Grave. Accessed March 14, 2022.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7173674/venus-romance-jones.
Evans, Linda. “Venus Jones.” Mary Washington College Today, Winter 1981. Accessed March 30, 2022.
https://archive.org/details/mwctoday1981wint06univ/mode/2up?
Jones, Albert. Interview by Erin Devlin, November 4, 2021.
Moyer, Laura. “Remembering Venus R. Jones.” University of Mary Washington Magazine, April
27, 2018. Accessed March 30, 2022.
https://magazine.umw.edu/spring2018/departments/1564/.
Stewart, Carmencita. Interview by Erin Devlin, November 9, 2021.
Williams, Cannon Lillie. Interview by Erin Devlin, November 9, 2021.
