Published: May 15, 2008 12:53 pm         

Exhibit chronicles L.C. Jones life, work

By MICHELLE MILLER
Staff Writer

This year marks the centennial of the birth of Louis C. Jones, so it seemed quite fitting for the Cooperstown graduate students to create an exhibit in his honor, said Wayne Wright, associate director of the New York State Historical Association Research Library.

The semester-long project ``Three Eyes on the Past: The Legacy of Dr. Louis C. Jones (1908-1990)’’ is on display at the research library’s exhibit room. It commemorates Jones’s work as a historian, author, folklorist, director of the New York Historical Association (NYSHA) and the Farmers’ Museum, and as founder of the Cooperstown Graduate Program.

The exhibit may be viewed during library hours, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, from 1 to 5 p.m.

Lori White, one of the five graduate students who worked on the exhibit, said she had a fantastic time working on the project. She said she and the other students— Brian Richards, Ashley Hopkins, Kimberly Springle and John Hart — worked with Jones’s family and current and former staff of NYSHA, and learned many intriguing facts about Jones and his work.

White said Jones was a very interesting man, and it would be very hard to narrow down what she found most remarkable about him. ``He was quite the character,’’ said White. ``He really had an interest in folk art and ghost stories.’’

Jones was very interested in murder trials because he believed people would have to tell the truth during them, and the trials were a place to hear about everyday life that people would not read about in text books, said White.

White said she found it fascinating that so much happened, such as the establishment of the graduate program in 1964, in such a small village — Cooperstown. The exhibit features folk art, historical artifacts, and ephemera culled from the collections of the research library, NYSHA, the Fenimore Art Museum, The Farmers’ Museum and the Cooperstown Graduate Program.

Some of the objects on view include a mallet from the 20th century, which belonged to the infamous murderess Eva Coo who allegedly used the device to kill her handyman to collect his life insurance; ``The American Songbook’’ by poet Carl Sandburg, and the books ``Murder at Cherry Hill’’ and ``Things That Go Bump in the Night,’’ both authored by Louis C. Jones.

Along with NYSHA’s Chairman and founder Stephen C. Clark, Sr., Jones selected many of the museum’s most cherished pieces, and acquired much of the Fenimore Art Museum’s renowned collection of folk art, according to NYSHA public relations manager Christine Liggio. On exhibit are a barley fork, an angel weathervane, and a peacock dating from the 19th century.

Also on view are Jones’s papers, which include the illustrations from his publication ``Things That Go Bump in the Night’’; his notebook from his early days at NYSHA; brochures from The Farmers’ Museum’s Seminars on American Culture;

and an 1950 issue of ``Art in America,’’ which was devoted to the Fenimore Art Museum’s growing folk art collection. Jones was renowned for several initiatives as director of NYSHA and The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown from 1947 until 1972.

Among his major accomplishments were the establishment of the Seminars on American Culture, the Cooperstown Graduate Program, the folk art collection at the Fenimore Art Museum and the Thompson-Jones folklore archives, the New York Folklore Society, and the expansion of The Farmers’ Museum, as well as educational programming, publication programs and outreach to local historical societies.

He was also a popular writer and accomplished editor on folklore, art and history. Other notable achievements include being an original member of the New York State Council on the Arts in 1960 (serving on the council until 1972) and chairman of the New York State Historic Trust. Jones received the Award of Distinction given by the Association of State and Local History in 1968, and honorary degrees from Hamilton College and the State University of New York in 1987.

Jones was born June 28, 1908 in Albany, N.Y., and died Nov. 25, 1990 after suffering a stroke in Haverford, Penn. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1930 and received his master’s degree in English from Columbia University in 1941. Jones also taught English at the university level and held teaching positions at several universities.