Ida E. Jones

Jones was born on February 4, 1874, in rural Chester County where she was the third daughter of ten children. Both her parents, Samuel and Louisa Ruth had previously been slaves and found their way in owning a small piece of land where they established their own family farm. Jones was known to keep her hands busy whether it be watching her siblings or gathering produce around said farm. Education was not as important to the Ruth family as domestic stability was. Nonetheless, all aspects of her early life were extremely forming to who Jones was becoming as an artist.[3]

In 1893, Ida married William Oscar Jones when she was nineteen years old. Right after marriage they soon began starting their family, which resulted in them having a total of twelve children. When not busy caring for their family, the two parents devoted themselves to the Church of Christ where William became the leader of the church and Ida served as the congregation's “song leader.”[4] After the death of her husband, Ida was known to write letters to Roberta Townsend where they discussed many things but mainly about her art and technique. Before and after Ida’s death her daughter, Ida J. Williams, documented these letters and wrote extensively about her mother.[3]

The minimal education received by Jones was overshadowed by her love of art. With only receiving a few lessons in the craft, Jones' developed most of her skills by scribbling in her sketchbook whenever she had the chance. These skills were put into practice consistently after the death of her husband in 1947.[5]

Heavily inspired by her early life on the farm, most of her work conveys different motifs of the life that was around her; farm houses and landscapes, flowers and fields, fruits and animals, and so on. When Jones wasn’t painting the surroundings she became so used to she would create her own depictions of biblical scenes. All in all, these subjects coincided with childhood stories and experiences such as her family’s tumultuous relationship with slavery or the rise of new technologies in her rustic town and were typically painted on canvas with either oil or watercolor.[6]

After being contacted by Horace Bond, historian, and president of Lincoln University, to discuss her family's unique part in the Underground Railroad, Jones’s finally received some recognition for her art. Bond established her first exhibit, in which she met Roberta and Walter Townsend. Two historians who were responsible for continuously archiving and putting Jones' work on display after her initial exhibit.[5]