Historical Marker Unveiled to Honor Legacy of Ann Arbor’s Jones School

A new historical marker in Ann Arbor is honoring the legacy of a school and the city's Black community.

Alumni of the Jones School helped unveil a new historical marker behind Community High School to recognize the educational impact that the Jones School made on the Ann Arbor community.

The historical marker project was an outgrowth of the 100th anniversary of the school and 50th anniversary of Community High School, which was recognized several years ago. 

Jones School Alumnus Paul Harrison said it took courage to acknowledge Ann Arbor's segregated history. “We're not responsible for the actions of the people that did that stuff back then,” Harrison said in a statement shared in an Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) news bulletin, “but we are responsible to look at the reality of how we got here and maybe try to do something about it.”

AAPS Superintendent Jazz Parks said the opportunity to dedicate the historical marker is important and long overdue. “To the students and families and staff of Jones School, this moment is for you,” Parks said. “It is to honor the legacy that has been unsung for far too long.”

Retired Community High School teacher Cindy Haidu-Banks paid tribute to community activist Shirley Beckley during the marker unveiling. Beckley, who passed away earlier this year, dedicated many years of her life to ensuring the history of Black Ann Arbor was not forgotten or glossed over.

“Shirley was a very good storyteller,” Haidu-Banks said in the AAPS bulletin. “It was important to her, as it is to many that history is told by the people who lived it, the good and the bad, from the past to the present. She did not sugar coat or mince words; she was opinionated. She shared stories with humor and mirth, the joy of community and a close neighborhood. Shirley was also not afraid to speak uncomfortable truths, the hard parts of being Black in Ann Arbor.”