Finding Aid for the Graham Jones Papers, 1959-1964, PC.1776

[Identification of item], PC. 1776, Graham Jones Papers, 1959-1964, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, USA.

Chronological when the date is known, and alphabetically by subject when the date is unknown. The papers has been divided into the following five series: Press Releases, 1961-1964; Press and Undated Photographs, 1959-1964, and undated; Miscellaneous Files, 1959-1964; Sound Recordings, 1960 and undated; Oversized Photographs, Undated.

Graham Eugene Jones (1927-1989)

Jones was born in Winston-Salem to William G. Jones and Margaret Painter Jones. After attending local schools he received a diploma from R. J. Reynolds High School. Jones was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in 1951 of the University of North Carolina with a degree in journalism. While a student, he was editor of the Daily Tar Heel and worked for the News of Orange County, 1949 and 1951. He also was a delegate to the National Young Democratic Club Conventions, 1949, a marshall at the Jefferson-Jackson Day Banquet (appointed by Terry Sanford), and president of the University Young Democratic Club, 1950.

Jones's military service began with the U.S. Merchant Marines, July 1944-January 1946, with service in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific Theatres. It continued with the U.S. Army, February 1946 - August 1947. He would later re-enlist with the U.S. Army during the Korean War, June 1952-1954, and ended his service as a Sergeant First Class. Subsequently, Jones became a member of the North Carolina Civil Defense Advisory Council.

Once out of miliary service, Jones worked for the Kinston Daily Free Press, 1954; then the Durham Morning Herald, 1955-1960. He was a member of the North Carolina Press Association and a member of the Board of Directors of the N.C. News and Feature Writers Conference, 1958-1959. In 1960 Jones was publicity director of the N.C. Democratic Executive Committee. When Terry Sanford opened his campaign to run for governor, Jones was selected as the gubernatorial candididate's press aide.

Once elected as governor, Terry Sanford appointed Jones as press secretary, the first ever in the state's executive office. Sanford wanted a more active role with the media and therefore appointed Jones, who had worked for various North Carolina newspapers since 1949, and had key roles in the Young Democrat's organization and in the Democratic party.[Information for this biographical sketch found in , Issued by Thad Eure, Secretary of State, Raleigh. pg. 458.]

James Terry Sanford (1917-1998)

Terry Sanford, Democrat, and North Carolina governor, 1960-1964, was born in Laurinburg, Scotland County. He was a son of Cecil LeRoy Sanford, a merchant and realtor, and Elizabeth Martin Sanford, a public school teacher. He attended Presbyterian Junior College and later, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a student during the Great Depression, Sanford delivered newspapers, washed dishes, and performed other jobs. Following graduation and two years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he served in World War II as a member of the 517th Parachute Combat Team. During the period from 1942 to 1945, he took part in campaigns in Italy, Frances, Belgium, and Germany. Sanford returned to the University of North Carolina for his law degree and after two years as assistant director of the Institute of Government began practicing in Fayetteville in 1948. He married Margaret Rose Knight, a University student from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on July 4, 1942. They would become parents of a daughter and son, Elizabeth (Betsee) and Terry, Jr.

Sanford served as president of the North Carolina Young Democratic Clubs in 1949 and served as a state senator from 1953-1955. The following year he managed former Governor W. Kerr Scott's successful campaign for the United States Senate. Sanford served as a delegate to the National Democratic Conventions of 1956 and 1960, and seconded the nomination of John F. Kennedy for president at the latter convention. During that period, Sanford was supported by Scott's organization in his bid for governor, and on June 25, 1960, he was nominated as the Democratic candidate. He won the election and served as governor from 1961-1965. During his tenure, Sanford strongly supported education and championed community colleges, a school for the gifted, and a school of the arts. He also established a center to study mental retardation and the State Board of Science and Technology. He pushed for more teachers, increased teacher salaries, library expansions, and improved curriculum. Sanford established several committees to look into social issues facing the state in the 1960s, including the "Mayors' Cooperating Committee on Race Relations" and the "Governor's Commission on the Status of Women." On the one hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, he announced the formation of a "Good Neighbor Council" to encourage employment without regard to race.

In 1969, he was appointed president of Duke University and he remained in that position until his retirement in 1985. In 1986, he was elected as a United States Senator from North Carolina, serving until 1993, when he was defeated for reelection by Lauch Faircloth. He then returned to North Carolina to practice law and to promote the arts and education until his death in 1998. [Information for this biographical sketch was found in the Secretary of State publication, The North Carolina Manual, 1961; N.C. Department of Cultural Resources (Raleigh) publications: North Carolina Governors, 1585-1974: Brief Sketches (Division of Archives and History) by Beth G. Crabtree, Third Printing, Revised, 1974; and The Governors of North Carolina (Office of Archives and History), edited by Michael Hill, 2007. Also see a more detailed sketch of Sanford by Graham Jones in Messages, Addresses, and Public Papers of Terry Sanford, Governor of North Carolina, 1961-1965, edited by Memory F. Mitchell, Dept. of Archives and History, Raleigh, 1966.

1. Press Releases, 1961-1964

2. Photographs

3. Miscellaneous Files, 1959-1964

4. Sound Recordings, 1960 and undated

5. Oversized Photographs, 1961, and undated

Gift of Stuart Jones, brother of Graham Jones, February, 1990.