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Jesse O. Thomas
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Jesse O. Thomas
Krishna Smith
Family Origin
- Jesse O. Thomas was born on December 21, 1885, in Pike County, Mississippi. His mother, Amanda Johnson, and father, Jefferson Thomas sharecropped for over 20 years.
- He attended school up until he was 14 years old. When his mother Amanda passed, the family lost their land. Thomas accepted his first job at a sawmill in Natalbany, Louisiana.
Education & Occupation
1911-1916
- Thomas attended the Tuskegee Institute, which was founded by Booker T. Washington.
- While Thomas attended Tuskegee, he met Booker T. Washington, which eventually became Thomas's mentor.
- In addition to capturing the attention of Mr. Washington with his public speaking, he also attracted Julius Rosenwald and Theodore Roosevelt. Rosenwald provided money for Rosenwald schools in the southern region. President Roosevelt wanted Thomas to be hired after graduation to speak for the school.
- In 1911, Thomas graduated from the Tuskegee Institute and opened a Tuskegee field in Rochester, New York.
- In 1916, Thomas was the principle of Voorhees Institute and known to be one of the greatest fundraisers at the school.
Contribution to Society
1917- 1919
- In 1917, Thomas married Nellie Ida Mitchell. Their child Anne Amanda was born in 1919.
- In 1918, he left the Voorhees Institute and accepted two jobs in New York. The first job was the State Supervisor of negro economics. The second job was the Examiner-in-charge of U.S employment services.
- In 1919, Thomas resigned from both jobs to pursue a degree in social work at the New York school of social work.
- By October 1919, Thomas opened up the Field of Secretary Office of the National Urban League in Atlanta.
Contribution to Society
Contribution & Relevance
- Around 1920, Thomas was one of the founders of the Atlanta University school of social work (known as Clark Atlanta University).
- Recruited to work for the American Red Cross to lead the racial integration. He was the first African-American to be hired for this organization which paved the way for future African-Americans to be hired.
- He organized the 27 clubs of Atlanta for black educators to combine their ideas and publish papers.
- In 1928, he served on the Mississippi flood relief committee.
- Thomas brought awareness regarding the shortage of trained black social workers.
- He convinced the Atlanta school board to hire the first 2 black public school nurses.
- In the middle of WWII, Thomas took a break from Urban League to focus on the sales of war bonds in the black community.
- Due to the lack of hotels for African-Americans, Thomas and his wife opened up their home to their people. (Mary McLeod, W.E.B Du Bois, William Stanley Braithwaite, and many more).
Relevance to social work
Personal Reflections
Reflection
- Initially, I was surprised that I had picked Mr. Thomas because he made such a difference in my original hometown. As I was doing my research, I realized he cared deeply about the black community and wanted to make a difference on a large scale. Despite the chaos and evil that happened in this era, he continued to put in 100% effort to help his people become successful or open doors for them to have a chance. Whereas today, the black community tends to stay to themselves and choose not to get involved to help one another.
Braxton, R. (2013). Jesse O. Thomas. In New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved Apr 11, 2021, from https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/jesse-o-thomas-1885-1972/
Cross, A. R. (2022, February 4). Black history month: Honoring Jesse O. Thomas. red cross chat. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://redcrosschat.org/2022/02/06/black-history-month-honoring-jesse-o-thomas/
Braxton, R. (2013). Jesse O. Thomas. In New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved Apr 11, 2021, from https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/jesse-o-thomas-1885-1972/
National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6922054
Peebles-Wilkins, W. Thomas, Jesse O.. Encyclopedia of Social Work. Retrieved 9 Feb. 2022, from https://oxfordre.com/socialwork/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.001.0001/acrefore-9780199975839-e-805.
Thomas, J. O. (1945). American Red Cross Services to the Armed Forces. Phylon (1940-1956), 6(3), 273–276. https://doi.org/10.2307/272497