Jones, John "Jack"  Papers (1923-1983)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Jack Jones was a cultural historian, social critic, fiction writer, and poet. Born on September 28, 1923 in Dallas, Texas, he grew up and lived most of his life in New York. He graduated from Dwight School in New York City in 1942.

From the years 1942‑1955, he attended Swarthmore College, New York University, The New School for Social Research, and Vassar Summer Institute, as well as working a number of factory jobs and publishing poetry and short fiction.

In the early 1950s, he worked as a reader of published and unpublished fiction and nonfiction for the Curtis Brown Company and Twentieth Century Fox.

Ideologically a Marxist, he analyzed the enigma of Marxism, and wrote, an article, entitled "To the End of Thought" in 1953. It was published in 1955 under the pseudonym "John Hurkan."

Jones expanded "To the End of Thought" into a book in which he set forth a more general theory of history and religious consciousness and elaborated the psychology and ideology of man. This book was never published; however, many of the articles published over the next twenty‑five years were essentially chapters from it.

Jones' activities in the areas of cultural history and social criticism led to his being requested to write an article on Otto Rank for the International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, published in 1968. In 1970 he published "Herbert Marcus and the Cunning of Revolution". This was followed by "The Idea of Socialism: The Ninety Degree Turn" in 1971, and "Que est ce que Humanism?" and "Five Versions of Psychological Man" in 1972.

During the early 1970s, Jones suffered severe eye problems, and was diagnosed as having a detached retina and cataracts. Despite being declared legally blind in 1974, he continued researching and writing, using magnification and a large print typewriter. From 1975‑1982, he continued writing and published five manuscripts.

Jones died of cancer on January 10, 1983, shortly after the publication of "The Deepening World Ecological Crisis, Commentary, and the Reaganauts" and "How Marx Went Fatally Wrong".

SCOPE AND CONTENT

Series Description

Series 1: Correspondence 1929‑1982

Boxes 1‑23

Series 2: Personal Papers 1923‑1982

Boxes 24‑25

Series 3: Jones Family Correspondence and Papers

Boxes 26

Series 4: Manuscripts, Reviews and Correspondence

Boxes 27-53

FOLDER LIST

Series I Correspondence

Box 1

Box 2

Box 3

Box 4

Box 5

Box 6

Box 7

Box 8

Box 9

Box 10

Box 11

Box 12

Box 13

Box 14 

Box 15

Box 16

Box 17

Box 18

Box 19

Box 20

Box 21

Box 22

Box 23

Series II Personal

Box 24

Box 25   Diaries 1948‑1954

Series III   Jones Family‑‑Correspondence & Personal

Box 26

Series IV Manuscripts, Reviews, & Correspondence

Box 27

Box 28

Box 29

Box 30

Box 31

Box 32

Box 33

Box 34

Box 35

Box 36

Box 37

Box 38

Box 39

Box 40

Box 41

Box 42

Box 43

Box 44

Box 45

Box 46

Box 47

Box 48

Box 49

Box 50

Box 51

Box 52

Box 53

Also Contains: Oversize paper‑ Diploma of Jack Jones from Dwight School, New York City,  August 21, 1942