James Bryant attended Jones School from kindergarten to fifth grade. When Jones School closed in 1965, he was bused to Pattengill Elementary, and he remembers a tumultuous period of racial conflict. He helped form the Black Student Union at Tappan Junior High and Huron High School.

Richard Payne attended Jones School until fifth or sixth grade, when he was bused to Pattengill Elementary School due to the closure of Jones. He remembers white parents and their children protesting with racist signs on the first day of classes, and being disciplined unfairly.

Debby Mitchell Covington grew up in Ann Arbor near Summit Park (now Wheeler Park), and she attended Jones School in kindergarten and first grade. In 1965 when Jones School closed, she was bused to Dicken Elementary and she recalls feeling isolated in the majority-white school. 

Alma Wheeler Smith grew up in post-WWII Ann Arbor with two activist parents, Albert and Emma Wheeler. She recalls participating in picketing and demonstrations against segregation and redlining in Ann Arbor. She shares her perspective on her parents’ involvement in the decision to close Jones School.

Cheryl (Jewett) O’Neal grew up in “The Old Neighborhood” before moving to the North side of Ann Arbor in 1960. Although she only attended Jones School in kindergarten, she had strong ties to friends and family in the neighborhood. She remembers the Dunbar Center and the Student Parent Center in the Jones building.

Theresa (Dixon) Campbell attended Jones School from 1957 to 1965, and she recalls being involved in Black student activism at Huron High School. She shares memories of her parents, William and Minnie Dixon, who did custodial work and owned a home in “The Old Neighborhood.”

Omer Jean (Dixon) Winborn attended Jones School from kindergarten to sixth grade, from 1955 to 1962. She recalls having many strong Black role models, including her parents William and Minnie Dixon, the Jones School custodian Mr. Perry, her pastor Rev. Carpenter, and U-M professor Albert H. Wheeler.

Shirley Beckley attended Jones School from 1948 to 1950, and she became involved with the Ann Arbor Public Schools in the 1960s as a parent and ombudsman. She witnessed racism against her children and other students, including a race riot at Pioneer High School.

Roger Brown grew up in “The Old Neighborhood” and has vivid memories of playing in Summit Park next to a junkyard and slaughterhouse. He attended Jones School from 1963 to 1965, and he remembers his friends being bused to several different schools after its closure.

Mary Hinton Jones was interviewed after a preliminary screening of the documentary film There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School at the State Theatre on April 16, 2023.