Dr. N. Freeman Jones, Jr. was born on December 28, 1928, to the late Numa Freeman Jones, Sr., and Ida Hodnett Jones. “Freeman,” as he was called by all, attended the local public schools and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1946. He continued his education at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he received the Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 1950. After graduating from Shaw University, he was hired as an eighth grade teacher at Lincoln Consolidated School in the Rockingham County School System, where he served in that capacity until 1966. Dr. Jones earned the Master of Education degree in from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. Subsequent to earning the masters degree, he was appointed Principal of Lincoln School in 1966. He served in that position until 1982 and introduced many educational innovations to improve the instructional programs. During his tenure as Principal, he earned the Doctor of Education degree in Educational Administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 1970, the process of desegregation came to Lincoln School. After serving seventeen years as Principal of Lincoln School, Dr. Jones became a Central Office administrator for Rockingham County Schools, where he served as Director of Exceptional Children and Migrant Education. As director, he was successful in incorporating computers into the programs of both exceptional children and migrant education. He retired from this position in 1991. Dr. Jones’ work experiences are unique and interesting, because he served in the same school for 30 years and the same school system for 39 years. Dr. Jones, died October 16, 2007.
