"Fred Thomas Jones Sr."(September 8,1877-September 10

Was physician and pioneer in providing insurance and medical care to African Americans in Arkansas and Louisiana.He was born in Homer Louisiana,the oldest of eleven children born to Fred R.Jones,a farmer,and Harriet E.Jones, a housewife.In 1904,Fred married Hattie McGraw.The couple had a daughter but divorced soon after.Three years later, in 1907,he married Kate Chandler.They had seven children-five daughters and two sons.After attending Claiborne Parish School at Bishop College in Marshall,Texas,and the Tuskegee University in Alabama,Fred graduated from Arkansas Branch Normal College (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) between 1900 and 1904,the exact year is unknown.He received his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in 1905.Fred was not allowed to practice medicine in his hometown of Homer,so he moved to Shreveport,Louisiana,where he founded the Mercy Sanitarium in 1915.At the urging of Dr.R.A. Williams  of Provident Hospital in Chicago,Illinois,he moved his family to Little Rock and established the Booker T.Washington Memorial Hospital there in early 1918.In February 1918,In February 1918,the hospital,was renamed the J.E.Memorial Hospital in honor of the African American fraternal and political leader who died in Little Rock in 1916.In 1919,Fred established the Great Southern Fraternal Hospital in Little Rock,located in the predominately black area of Little Rock,near the intersection of 9th and State Streets,the hospital provided medical care for members of two African American fraternal organizations:the United Friends of America and the Independent Order of Immaculate.White doctors operated at the hospital along with Fred and other African American doctors.The United Friends of America was established in Little Rock by the Rev.Charles D.Pettaway and Fred in 1918.The Great Southern Hospital Fraternal Hospital operated until 1929.Fred popularized the concern of the "hospital plan,"an insurance plan whereby subscribers would pay monthly dues to offset future hospitals visits.In 1920,he copyrighted "The Fraternal Benevolent,Charity Hospital plan,"which described  his vision of affordable healthcare for African Americans.By all accounts,the hospital plan was successful.Around 1921,Fred organized the Great Southern Mutual Life Insurance Company and served as its medical director,even after it was absorbed by a larger company in 1926.Around 1923,he organized the Great Southern Fraternal Union,which had an estimated membership of more than 21,000 by 1927.In 1927,Fred organized the Great Southern Investment Company,a financial lending institution aimed at helping African American farmers and property owners.Fred moved his family to Chicago in May 1927 after the lynching of John Carter,an African American man accused of assaulting a young white girl.Fearing for his family's safety,Fred scent his wife and six of his children of state until tensions eased.According to one of his daughters,armed white men followed the family's car its way out of Little Rock.He remained in the city to continue to provide medical care to the area's African American citizens,even though he was threatened with violence.Fred's wife and three youngest children returned to Arkansas in 1937.After the closure of the Great Southern Fraternal Hospital in Little Rock,he established the Great Southern Hospital in Pine Bluff in 1932.After a year and some 200 successful operations there,the resentment of some white citizens forced Fred to return to Little Rock.Afterward,he and Dr.Lonnie Routen organized the Southern Hospital Association in North Little Rock.Fred served as chief surgeon at the hospital until his death.A separate Jones Brothers Laboratory,operated by Fred and his son Booker,manufactured and distributed prescription medicines in the area.Fred srved as president of the Arkansas Medical Dental and Pharmaceutical Association in 1934 and as an officer of the National Association.Fred was also active in civic,business,and religious affairs of Little Rock,including the Black Chamber of Commerce,which Fred helped established,the year of establishment is unknown.He died in Little Rock and is buried there in Haven of Rest Cementary.