Verina Harris Morton Jones (January 28, 1865 – February 3, 1943) was an American physician, suffragist and clubwoman. Following her graduation from the

Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP) was founded in 1850, and was the second medical institution in the world established to train women in medicine to earn the M.D. degree. The New England Female Medical College had been established ...

in 1888 she was the first woman licensed to practice medicine in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. She then moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

where she co-founded and led the Lincoln Settlement House. Jones was involved with numerous civic and activist organizations and was elected to the Board of Directors of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

(NAACP).

Early life and education

Verina Morton Jones was born on January 28, 1865, in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, to Willam D. and Kittie Stanley. From 1884 she attended the

in Philadelphia. She graduated and earned her M.D. in 1888.

Career

Following her graduation, Jones moved to

Holly Springs, Mississippi Holly Springs is a city in, and the county seat of, Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the southern border of Tennessee. Near the Mississippi Delta, the area was developed by European Americans for cotton plantations and was dep ...

, where she was a resident physician at

Rust College Rust College is a private historically black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Founded in 1866, it is the second-oldest private college in the state. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is one of ten historically black colleges ...

and taught classes for the college's industrial school. She was the first woman to pass Mississippi's medical board examination and the first woman to practice medicine in the state. Jones married physician Walter A. Morton in 1890. They moved to Brooklyn, New York where they set up a medical practice. Jones was the first black woman physician practicing in Long Island's Nassau County. She was active in the Kings County Medical Society and the

National Association of Colored Women The National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) is an American organization that was formed in July 1896 at the First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women in Washington, D.C., United States, by a merger of ...

, directing their Mother's Club in Brooklyn. From 1905 to 1906 she was a member of the

Niagara Movement The Niagara Movement (NM) was a black civil rights organization founded in 1905 by a group of activists—many of whom were among the vanguard of African-American lawyers in the United States—led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter. ...

's female auxiliary. She also worked with the Committee for Improving Industrial Conditions of Negroes in New York City. Jones fought for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and was president of the Brooklyn Equal Suffrage League. She conducted programs to educate voters, documented racial discrimination at polling places, and testified before investigative committees of Congress.

Lincoln Settlement House

Jones co-founded Brooklyn's Lincoln Settlement House with

Mary White Ovington Mary White Ovington (April 11, 1865 – July 15, 1951) was an American suffragist, journalist, and co-founder of the NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Biography Mary White Ovington was born April 11, 1865, ...

. Jones supplied the down payment for the house's property at 129 Willoughby Street and from May 1908 headed the organization, which began as an extension of the

Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...

founded by

Lillian Wald Lillian D. Wald (March 10, 1867 – September 1, 1940) was an American nurse, humanitarian and author. She was known for contributions to human rights and was the founder of American community nursing. She founded the Henry Street Settlement in N ...

. The Lincoln Settlement House offered free

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

, a day nursery and a clinic. The settlement house also sponsored debate and choral clubs and offered classes in sewing, carpentry, folk dancing, cooking, and embroidery. Upon its incorporation in 1914, the house moved to a larger building at 105 Fleet Place.

Urban League

In 1911, Jones, along with

, was part of a group of five Brooklynites who were active in the

Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

, which was the result of a merger between the Committee for Improving the Industrial Conditions of Negroes, the Committee on Urban Conditions among Negros, and the National League for the Protection of Colored Women.

NAACP

In 1913, Jones was elected to the Board of Directors of the

(NAACP). She served on its executive committee until 1925.

Hempstead

In the 1920s Jones moved to Hempstead and established a medical practice. She joined other women in the community to organize the Harriet Tubman Community Club in 1928 and from 1933 to 1939 directed the settlement house.

Personal life

Jones was an Episcopalian. She married Dr. Walter A. Morton in 1890 and gave birth to a son in 1892, Franklin W. Morton, who became an attorney. Walter A. Morton died in 1895. In 1901, Jones married Emory Jones (d. 1927). She died on February 3, 1943, in Brooklyn.