November 24, 1919

Scipio Africanus Jones was hired by African-American citizens of Little Rock (Pulaski County) to work with the firm of George W. Murphy, an attorney hired by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), to defend the twelve men sentenced to death following the Elaine Massacre. By January 14, 1925, all twelve defendants had been released. Jones described his case as “the greatest case against peonage and mob law ever fought in the land.” As a leader in Little Rock’s black community, Jones was responsible for preventing a repeat of the Elaine Massacre in the state’s capital when he and other leaders persuaded fellow black citizens to avoid confrontation amidst the mob violence surrounding the lynching of John Carter in 1927.