Alfred Jones
In recent years I have frequently recalled memories from my senior year. A particular memory is 
when Alfred Jones and I decided to have breakfast at a restaurant near the East High campus to talk about what we wanted to address in our next meeting of Hi-Y, Alfred being the president and I the vice president. Hi-Y was (and still is) affiliated with the YMCA, providing a connection between social and religious aspects of our lives. A morally safe place, one would imagine. When we tried to take a seat at the restaurant the waitress told me, “We don’t serve THEM here,” looking directly at Alfred. I looked at Alfred and he simply said to me, “This happens all the time. Let’s just leave.”
I knew Alfred as a religious, kind, bright and private individual, an excellent sprinter, and a very proud person. But I did not really know him or fully understand what he had just endured or what Wichita teenagers were doing to address racial discrimination in Wichita. When we walked out of the restaurant I did not know that he was one of the teenagers who were actively engaged in protesting racial discrimination in Wichita.
According to author Gretchen Cassell Eick, as described in Dissent in Wichita, Alfred was one of the regulars who, with others organized by the NAACP, were picketing downtown Wichita businesses, including Dockum’s, on Saturdays and during the summer, with the goal of pressuring the businesses to serve Blacks and to hire more Blacks. A chapter on the Wichita NAACP, picketing, and sit-ins is available at the following link: http://books.google.com/books?id=AwqAvzGFjr4C&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=%22alfred+jones%22+sit-in+wichita&source=bl&ots=lbO-WkgwQ0&sig=ObbmAGd7Gqkn7i9chhDxSnewbRA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=157dUpW3BLOgsATRxoDACw&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22alfred%20jones%22%20sit-in%20wichita&f=false.
I have been unable to trace the life of Alfred after high school except through a few photos of him on Flickr under the title “Alfred Jones Kansas Boy.” https://www.flickr.com/photos/17627232@N00/. It appears that he was in Sweden for a while and traveled, but little else comes through the photos.
I never discussed the restaurant experience or the downtown protests with Alfred during our high school years, and as time has played out I did not have the opportunity to do so. From a classmate I learned that Alfred passed away but at an unknown date.
I want to take this opportunity to commemorate the life of Alfred Jones, another person of great promise, who may not have had a chance to fulfill his destiny because of racism, but who worked to improve society and to create opportunities for Blacks.
At East High, Al Jones was an exceptional leader from the beginning. Senior year, he served as an elected member of the Student Congress Senate and may have been the only senior who was the president of two clubs.
Thank you David, for bringing this story to light. For the most part, Wichitans didn’t know the sit-ins had occurred because store owners asked the Eagle and Beacon not to publish anything for fear of losing customers. Unfortunately, the Greensboro event was widely publicized and gets the credit for student-led sit-ins (1960). But ours were held in 1958. The following link is an account by two of the participants made in 2012. In it, Mr Galyn Vesey is sitting at a full-sized sculpture that depicts the Dockum lunch counter. It is in a pocket park on Douglas, the site of the former Woolworth building. https://www.c-span.org/video/?306264-1/dockum-drug-store-sit. I hope that other classmates come forward with their personal stories about these remarkable incidents.
David, I am thankful that you had this experience with Alfred and are sharing it with us. In high school I was oblivious to the social/political race scene. When I hear of stories like yours, I know my blindness must have been intentional. Fortunately, younger members of my family have introduced multiracialism into my family and I am playing catch up for all those years I missed. I am glad you had this friendship with Alfred.
I lived in downtown Memphis for a couple of years and visited the Lorraine Hotel which was converted to the Civil Rights Museum. That was a seriously good place to learn some of the history I ignored. Now at this ripe old age of 78, I suspect there are a number of serious experiences I missed!
I always enjoyed being with Alfred. The first thing that comes to mind is going to Colorado with him to attend a YMCA Conference. Our Biology teacher drove us there in his old Plymouth [which I doubted would make it] and enroute, we stopped in a small town to eat. I had never witnessed racial bias in my somewhat short and naive life, but when Alfred was told to leave, I didn’t know whether to go with him or coldcock the SOB owner. Fortunately for all, we chose the former! But I get angry while typing this today. Also, we enjoyed going out with the girls at the conference, which again excluded Alfred as there were no ladies of color and interracial dating was not acceptable. Not far enough, but we’ve come a long way!
Reading this again is important. If I ever had a “do over,” I would like to experience high school again with my heart and eyes wide open.