Philippians 3:17 - Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
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Biographical text and photo used on several 1960s-1980s editions
of Mary Alice Jones' Rand McNally Books |
This Phil. 3:17 Portrait took over 3 years to publish. At one time Mary Alice Jones’ Wikipedia article did not have a death date, and only recently did I confirm more information for this story.
Mary Alice Jones (June 23, 1898 - September 23, 1980) was a lecturer, teacher, and the author of dozens of books for children about the Bible, Jesus Christ, prayer and God which sold over 20 million copies and were translated into multiple languages.
She is best remembered today for her "Tell Me About..." series which began in 1945 while she was the children's religious editor for Rand McNally from 1945 - 1951. Many online sources do not have a complete biography of Miss Jones and creating one has been a goal of mine for some time.
Mary Alice Jones was born in Dallas TX. While attending the Crozier Technical High School she became interested in child psychology. She attended the University of Texas where she earned her B.A. For her 1920 M.A. in religious education from Northwestern University, her thesis was titled "Use of the dramatic method or teaching religion to children", and a Ph.D. from Yale.
From a search of library records, Jones published educational and teaching materials for children as early as 1928. Among her many accomplishments, was her work as director of children's work for the International Council of Religious Education for 16 years.
Jones In Other Media.
Some of Jones' books were made into audio-visual aids for school, home and church use. I was fortunate to have purchased a filmstrip/record version of her book "Tell Me About Christmas". Her biography in More Junior Authors states that she made contributions to religious radio programs for children. So far a search of some newspaper databases has shown that she appeared as a guest on several programs to discuss faith and children. If Mary Alice Jones did produce a children's radio program I would love to know about it.
Jones also indirectly inspired the children's novel Misty of Chincoteague when she suggested to author Marguerite Henry and illustrator Wesley Dennis that they visit the Virginia area to see a horse roundup. This novel was made into the family classic film Misty in 1961.
Where are her papers???
A major curiosity of this author is that someone as educated and widely published as Jones most likely has to have a collection of papers either in an archive or in someone's personal possession. After her retirement she spent the remainder of her life in Nashville, Tennessee where she passed away in a Methodist rest home in 1980 at the age of 82. Her body was donated for study to Vanderbilt University. She had no children and her obit only mentioned an unnamed niece.As widely known and accomplished as Miss Jones was, her obituary seems to have only been published in a Nashville newspaper, which explains why her date of death was generally unknown outside of a few Methodist publications for several years.
While her body was donated to Vanderbilt University, it was recently confirmed that her papers were not. It is still unknown if a local church or seminary in that region may be in possession of them.
Availability of Works
Presumably Jones is not celebrated today along with more mainstream children's book
writers because her work was entirely Christian. However there is a glorious plus to this. Her children's books are not as coveted collector's items and therefore are more accessible for continued use as Sunday School and Bible aids for today's children.
Used copies of Jones' books are easy to obtain from Ebay, Amazon, thrift stores and used book dealers for as little as .25 cents. Therefore the works of Mary Alice Jones can continue to impact children and families for Christ more than 40 years after she passed away.
The Mary Alice Jones Collection:
Also for these reasons, I have gradually built a personal research collection of Mary Alice Jones books. Included are multiple copies of her books across six decades. An amazing find was this signed copy of book at a thrift story for just 2.00. It was a discard from a local church library.
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Signed copy of "Me, Myself and God". Mary Alice Jones tended to
sign books on the page next to the title page. |
The Jones Collection has 1st and 6th or 7th editions of her books and the aforementioned audio visual set.
Select Bibliography:
Tell Me About God (1943)
Tell me About Jesus (1944)
Tell Me About the Bible (1945)
Tell Me About Prayer (1948)
First Prayers for Little Children (1949)
Stories of the Christ Child (1953)
Bible Stories: Old Testament (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1954)
God Is Good (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1955)
Tell Me About Heaven (Marjorie Cooper illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1956)
Tell Me About Christmas (Marjorie Cooper illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1958)
More on Mary Alice Jones
Find-A-Grave memorial - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/132879147
"Miss Mary Alice Jones, Christian Child Author, 82, Dies, September 24, 1980, The Tennessean,
