Obituary: St. Paul author and historian Judy Yaeger Jones believed in ‘women and their rights’

If not for Judy Yaeger Jones, the accomplishments of Marcenia “Toni” Stone, the first Black woman to play in a men’s professional baseball league, might have been overlooked.

Jones learned about Stone in 1988 when she read a brief entry in the book “Contributions of Black Women to America.”

Jones, a historian and author, immediately wanted to know more about the St. Paul baseball player who made sports history in 1953 when she signed a seasonal contract with the Indianapolis Clowns in the Negro American League.

Jones, founder of Women’s History Month Inc., and president of Herstory Unlimited, a consulting firm in multi-cultural women’s history, researched Stone’s life and collected information about Stone for an article that appeared in the Minnesota Women’s Press.

The Great American History Theatre in St. Paul commemorated Stone’s story in a world premiere production, “Tomboy Stone,” in 1997, and the baseball field at the Dunning Sports Complex next to Central High School was named Toni Stone Stadium that same year.

Jones, of St. Paul, died Sunday of complications related to a chronic illness at the Augustana Health Care Center in Apple Valley. She was 82.

Earlier: Given terminal diagnosis, Judy Yaeger Jones had a last request: to ride a Harley.

“She was always a feminist,” said Angela Jones Flanaghan, one of Jones’ four daughters. “She always believed in women and their rights.”

Shining a light

Jones helped shine a light on Stone’s accomplishments, said Maria Bartlow, Stone’s niece. “They named the baseball stadium after her, and that was really an achievement,” she said. “She would have been overlooked if not for Judy.”

Jones and Stone became good friends over the years, Bartlow said, and Jones helped persuade Stone to share her story publicly.

“Judy won her over by talking to her and getting her out (to Minnesota) to talk to more people,” Bartlow said. “My aunt was a little shy, and Judy helped her out to talk to people, especially schoolkids, about doing certain things.”

Jones also was instrumental in providing the curriculum for St. Paul Public Schools’ first celebrations of Black History Month and Women’s History Week in 1982, Flanaghan said.

Jones saw the need for programs commemorating both, and she approached the principal at her daughters’ elementary school, according to a story about Jones published in the Minnesota Women’s Press in 1986.

“When the principal turned down the idea, Jones had her cause,” the article states. “She brought her case before the principal’s supervisor in the school district and won the right to offer the programs.”

In 1986, Jones founded Minnesota Women’s History Month, a nonprofit organization that promotes the celebration of women’s contributions to local and regional history.

She also founded her own consulting firm, Herstory Unlimited, which offered services such as feminist research, the compilation of oral and group “herstories,” and presentations dramatizing famous women of history and their lives.

The Minnesota Department of Education hired Herstory Unlimited to conduct workshops for school teachers and administrators on incorporating women’s history into lessons, Flanaghan said.

“She was very opinionated, and when she had her mind set on something, she went for it,” she said. “She believed in equity – that everyone should have equal rights and fair opportunities. She would always ask, ‘Why is there so much history and not herstory?’ That was always her favorite line.”

“Women’s history should be all year round,” Jones told the Pioneer Press in an interview last year.

Political activism

Jones’ political activism led her to join Women Against Military Madness and other groups. She was arrested numerous times while engaging in civil disobedience, including demonstrations against the Vietnam War, Flanaghan said.

Jones never gave up teaching people about women’s history, Flanaghan said. She gave her last presentation on women’s history on March 20, just a few weeks before she died, at the Augustana Health Care Center.

“I brought all of her posters over so they could be displayed,” Flanaghan said. “She loved sharing those stories.”

Jones was honored last year by the St. Paul City Council for her numerous contributions to the community over the years, including writing the book “Celebrating 10: 1973-1983,” which documented the founding members of the DFL Feminist Caucus.

Jones also wrote a book about a deaf American poet called “Sweet Bells Jangled: Laura Redden Searing, A Deaf Poet Restored.”

Judy Yaeger grew up in St. Paul and graduated from Central High School in 1959. In 1961, she married Robert Jones, whom she had met working at West Publishing Co.; he worked in the press room, and she was a proofreader, Flanaghan said.

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Robert Jones was the single father of a 4-year-old daughter, Debra, whom Judy adopted. The couple then had three more daughters: Sheila, Angela and Shonagh.

Yaeger Jones graduated summa cum laude in 1986 from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in elective science.

In addition to Flanaghan, Jones is survived by her daughters, Debra Emery, Sheila Jones and Shonagh Jones; nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Jones’ life will be held at 1 p.m. May 10 at the Cremation Society of Minnesota in St. Paul, with visitation an hour prior to the service.