Oral history with Mrs. Lorita Nelson Jones

              Oral history with Mrs. Lorita Nelson Jones
F341.5 . M57 vol. 747, pt. 2
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Biography
Mrs. Lorita Nelson Jones was born on July 19, 1909, in Biloxi, Mississippi; her parents were Bertha Lewis Nelson Rogers and Lamar Nelson. She had one sister, Antoinette Rogers Jones Lashley Wilson, who died in 2001. Her mother's family was originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, of Creole heritage, and Lorita remembers that her grandmother, Olivia Lewis, spoke only in French. Her father Lamar was involved in the historical musical minstrel shows that traveled the South during the early 1900s.
Mrs. Jones attended Our Mother of Sorrows, the first Catholic School for Black Children of Biloxi. She worked as a laundress as a young girl and later as a domestic until she retired.
Mrs. Jones married Irvill Jones in 1928. Coincidentally, her sister Antoinette married Irvill's brother, Jules Jones, that same year! Lorita and Irvill had one daughter, Lorraine, born in 1929. Lorraine still lives in Biloxi and takes care of her mother. With Walter Johnson, Lorita had three other children: Maude Ellen who died at nine years of age in an accident; Phyllis who passed away in 2000; and Edward who currently lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Mrs. Jones' three children have given her numerous grandchildren, great- grandchildren, and great- great- grandchildren.
Mrs. Jones currently lives in Biloxi and loves to watch her favorite television shows, visit with family and friends, and talk about the good, old days when everyone helped each other.
Written by Mrs. Jones' granddaughter Althea Marie Lee Chambers June 24, 2002
Table of Contents
I. Family background
II. Childhood
III. Clothes- washing- by- hand home business mus- coh. jonesln. doc Page 1 of 40