Allen Woodrow Jones

1930 - 2025

Allen Woodrow Jones

August 14, 1930 - November 13, 2025

Allen Woodrow Jones, former Auburn University archivist, Professor of History, and longtime Auburn resident, died on November 13 at Arbor Lake Nursing Home. Known for his booming laughter and sense of righteous indignation, he passed after living sixteen years without his beloved wife and partner, Grace Jones. He was 95.

Dr. Jones was a Depression-era child, born in Andalusia, Alabama in 1930 to Arthur Green Jones, a print press operator for the Andalusia Star News, and Pearl Fryer, a sewing factory worker. He was named partially after President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, which was fortuitous given his self-identification as a died-in-the-wool Yellow Dog Democrat.

After graduating Andalusia High School, he became the first in his family to go to college when he enrolled at Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1948, working his way through college by busing tables and various odd jobs. As a master's student at API, he met his future wife, Grace Preiss, while working in the summer at the Alabama State Archives in Montgomery. They were married on April 25, 1953.

After being drafted into the U.S. Army in the same year, Jones was stationed in the U.S. and Germany for four years, leading an ambulance company as a lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps. Upon returning to the states, he continued his military service in the U.S. Army Reserves, where he routinely performed annual military service in Washington, D.C., declassifying World War II documents. He eventually retired at the rank of Colonel in 1984.

In 1957, Jones enrolled as a doctoral student at the University of Alabama, earning his PhD in Southern History in 1964. He began teaching at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina in 1960 and returned to Auburn University as an assistant professor of history in 1966. His courses included Black History, the New South, and U.S. History during the Progressive Era.

His research focused on Black History, particularly the contributions of African Americans to agrarian leadership across the South, as well as the Black Press. He directed many of his graduate students (who went on to write books on Booker T. Washington and Ida B. Wells) to also focus on Black History, given the valuable resources at Tuskegee Institute nearby. He also was instrumental in helping integrate the Alabama Historical Society, as well as Auburn City Public Schools.

In 1969, Jones became the university archivist and subsequently created one of the country's first archival training programs for graduate students. His former students went on to head the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, the George Herbert Walker Bush Presidential Library, and the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library. Jones ran the university archives until 1986 and retired as a Professor of History in 1991.

Retirement at age 61 led to extensive travel with his wife, "Amazing Grace," as they toured the world by land and sea. Retirement also brought a retreat to a Lake Martin playground and time with his family, friends, and grandkids. His beloved wife died of ovarian cancer in 2009.

He is preceded in death by his wife Grace Preiss Jones and his son-in-law, Paul Saia. He is survived by his sons Allen Woodrow Jones, Jr. and Jeffrey Preiss Jones, daughter Gail Saia, daughter-in-law Ruth Anne Wilson Jones, grandchildren Taylor Jones, Nathan Jones, Justin Saia, and Andrew Jones, and great-grandchildren Braxton Saia and Rohén Saia.

Visitation will be held at Jeffcoat Funeral Home in Opelika on Friday, November 21 from 5:00-7:00pm. The memorial service is Saturday, November 22 at 10:00am at Jeffcoat Chapel, followed by a military honor guard burial at the Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Auburn. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the CARE Humane Society, Habitat for Humanity, or your local food bank.

Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home

1500 Frederick Road Opelika, AL 36801