From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)

Elizabeth C. Carter Jones was a writer, speaker, teacher, community organizer, and a leader in the colored women's clubs. She was born in New Orleans, LA, the daughter of Anthony Carter, a U.S. Civil War Veteran and a peddler, and Azalia Landry Carter, a dressmaker.

Anthony Carter was born in Louisville, KY. He and Azalia were married around 1870. They lived in Louisville as early as 1873 when Anthony was employed as a waiter at the Galt House and there was one child, according to the U.S. Freedman's Bank Record (Ancestry). Azalia Carter is listed as a dressmaker in the Directory of the City of Louisville for 1894, p.247. 

Their daughter, Elizabeth "Bessie" Carter was the wife of Grafton G. Jones and the mother of Bessie B. Jones. The Jones family lived in Cincinnati, OH, where Grafton G. Jones was a letter carrier. He died of consumption on April 8, 1892. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth C. Jones and her daughter returned to Kentucky. Elizabeth is referred to as Bessie C. Jones in the local newspapers that reported her role in the Colored Schools and Teachers' Institute Movement during the 1890s in Kentucky.

The institutes had been held in Kentucky since 1877 and in conjunction with the development of the Colored Teachers' State Association [later renamed the Kentucky Negro Educational Association]. The institutes gained a much broader popularity in the 1880s and reached an all-time high during the years between 1890-1910 with meetings held throughout the state. The purpose of the institutes was teacher training, solidarity, certification, and the sharing of ideas on uplifting the race through the education of the children. The Colored Schools and Teachers' Institute Movement in Kentucky began to decline as the country moved closer to WWI.

In June of 1895, Bessie C. Jones sang solo "My Wooing" during the second commencement of the Colored Polytechnic Institute, a school in Lexington, KY. The event was held at the Exposition Hall in Lexington, KY. A few months later, in October of 1895, Bessie C. Jones, a teacher in Bath County, KY, was one of the many educators attending the Joint Colored Institute for Montgomery, Clark, and Bath Counties. The Institute was held in Clark County. In 1896, Bessie C. Jones was principal at the Sharpsburg Colored School. She was a speaker at the Colored Teachers' Institute held for the Bath County Colored Schools.

The Jefferson County Colored Teacher's Institute was established in August of 1897. Bessie C. Jones was elected secretary. The following year, Bessie C. Jones, led in organizing and conducting the Bath County Colored Teachers' Institute. The event was held at the Colored Methodist Church on October 10, 1898. Bessie C. Jones continued her work with the institutes into the early 1900s.

She was also an active member of several community organizations. In 1904, she was manager of the musical and concert presented by the Woman's Aid Society of the Duncan Street Christian Church in Louisville. She was a member and presenter at the 1904 Kentucky Negro Educational Association held in Lexington. She was superintendent of the Penny Clubs within the Colored Christian Women's Board of Missions in 1905. The following year she opened her home in Louisville to the children doing sewing and basket work with The Neighborhood Circle of the King's Daughters.   

By 1910, Bessie C. Jones was head of her family household in Louisville. Her father had died in 1907 and her mother was employed as a seamstress in a pants factory. Her daughter was a high school student. Bessie was principal of the Parkland District School, according to Caron's Directory of the City of Louisville for 1911, p.636. In 1912, there were financial difficulties and Bessie C. Jones filed a petition in bankruptcy.

The family left Louisville and moved to West Baden Springs, IN. Family members are enumerated in the 1920 U.S. Census. The West Baden Springs household included Bess B. Jones Pollard, Harry Pollard [head of the household], their six children, and Bessie C. Jones and Azalia Landry Carter.

The move to Indiana provided an opportunity for Bessie C. Jones to continue her work with social organizations and she excelled as a public speaker. In 1913, she founded the Twilight Social Welfare Club in West Baden Springs and French Lick, IN. In 1916, she was the guest lecturer for the Friend's Club at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Indianapolis, IN. She was referred to as "that invincible lecturer and monologist of the famous Carlsbad of America" when she was an invited by the Mothers' Club to speak in Fort Wayne, IN. Bessie C. Jones received lecture invitations from all over the state of Indiana. She was hailed as one of the best speakers in the state. 

Her service to the women's clubs included several terms as president of the State Federated Clubs of Indiana. She also maintained a connection to Kentucky. In August of 1919, she was on the program for the Madison County Colored Chautauqua (KY). As a writer, she was said to have entertained both children and adults with her short stories, and the evening audiences well received her oration titled "Woman" and her speaking presentations. She was treasurer of the Northwest Federation of Colored Women's Clubs in 1922 when she lectured to the Colored Republican voters and the general public in Princeton, IN. In 1923, Bessie C. Jones was head of the Citizenship Department of the National Association of Colored Women. 

In 1932, Bessie C. Jones was the assistant matron at the Booker T. Washington orphanage in Evansville, IN, when Governor Harry Leslie named her the state representative on the National Commission for Interracial Cooperation. At the close of the year, Bessie C. Jones was named executive secretary of the Phillis Wheatly House in Evansville, IN. She would continue to serve on a number of boards and direct plays for girls and for church events. In July of 1935, it was announced that Bessie C. Jones was ill and could not attend the Indiana Federation of Colored Women Clubs Convention in South Bend, IN. She died the following January of 1936. In July of 1936, Memorial services were held at the Phillis Wheatly Branch of the Indianapolis YWCA during the Indiana Federation of Colored Women's Clubs Convention.

Anthony Carter, died in Louisville, KY, on March 14, 1907, and is buried at the Greenwood Cemetery in Louisville, KY.

Azalia Landry Carter, died in West Baden Springs, IN, on March 3, 1922, and is buried at the Pythian Cemetery in French Lick, IN.

Elizabeth "Bessie" Carter Jones died in West Baden Springs, IN, on January 23, 1936, and is buried at the Pythian Cemetery in French Lick, IN. 

Sources:

"The Colored Teacher's Institute." Tri-Weekly Kentucky Yeoman, 23 August 1877, p.3; "Deaths. Grafton Jones." The Cincinnati Enquirer, 09 April 1892, p.5; Ohio Wills and Probate Records, Grafton G. Jones (Ancestry); "Carrier Jones' successor." The Cincinnati Enquirer, 10 April 1892, p.12; "At the Auditorium." The Daily Leader, 14 June 1895, p.8; "Joint Colored Institute." The Winchester Democrat, 22 October 1895, p.2; "The Colored Teachers' Institute ..." Bath County Democrat, 16 October 1896, p.5; "Colored Teachers' Institute." The Owingsville Outlook, 22 October 1896, front page; "Colored Teachers' Institute." The Courier-Journal, 10 August 1897, p.8; "Colored Teachers' Institute." Bath County Democrat, 19 October 1898, p.3; "Doing splendid work." The Sunday Leader, 18 June 1899, front page.

Program. Concert - Contest." American Baptist, 21 October 1904, p.2; "Colored Teachers - of Kentucky State Association open three days' session here." Lexington Leader, 27 December 1904, p.8; "Christian Women's B. of M." The Courier-Journal, 23 July 1905, p.6; "Story of the rapid improvement of Louisville's Negro population." The Louisville Herald, 06 June 1906, p.24; "Petitions in bankruptcy filed by two women." The Courier-Journal, 14 December 1912, p.7; "News of the Colored People." The Indianapolis News, 15 April 1916, p.5; "Colored Mothers' Club." The Fort Wayne Daily News, 15 August 1916, p.8; "Colored Chautauqua to be good this year." Richmond Daily Register (KY), 26 July 1919, p.4.

See Anthony Carter in the Kentucky Mortuary Record Book, 1903-1907, p.234 (Ancestry); Indiana Death Certificate for Azalea [Azalia] Carter, Registered #9922 (Ancestry); Indiana Death Certificate for Bessie C. Jones, Registered #2606 (Ancestry); J. W. Webb. "Fine addresses at Colored Chautauqua." Richmond Daily Register (KY), 08 August 1919, front page; "Mrs. Bessie C. Jones ..." Princeton Clarion-News, 27 May 1922, p.4; "Named on Board." The Evansville Journal, 13 August 1932, front page; "Colored women elect two here." The South Bend Tribune, 19 July 1935, p.9; 1900-1930 U.S. Census Schedules (Acestry); "Recreation Center schedule mapped." The Evansville Press, 21 December 1932, p.10; "Colored women leaders praised." The Indianapolis News, 09 July 1936, [Section 2], p.13; Annual Register of Women's Clubs and National Organizations in America, 1923, p.16; When the Truth is Told: a history of Black women's culture and community in Indiana, 1875-1950 by Darlene Clark Hine; National Council of Negro Women Indianapolis Section Records (bulk 1982-1985) collection at University of Louisville Library.

* This entry was suggested by Sr. Elizabeth Evans, O.S.B. Great-great granddaughter of Azelia Landry Carter and Great-granddaughter of Bessie Carter Jones.