June 4, 1997

Robert Emmett “Bob” Jones Jr. died 21 years after retiring from Congress, where he represented northern Alabama for 30 years. A Scottsboro native and University of Alabama law school graduate, the conservative Democrat entered politics in 1940 when he was elected judge in Jackson County. He was re-elected in 1945 while serving overseas in World War II. When U.S. Rep. John Sparkman resigned in 1946 to run for the U.S. Senate, Jones won a special election to replace him. He remained in Congress until retiring in 1977, gaining a reputation for supporting major public works projects such as the interstate highway system and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Bob Jones High School in Madison County, Bob Jones Avenue in Scottsboro and the Bob Jones Bridge over the Tennessee River are named for him. He was 84 when he died.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Congressman Robert E. Jones Jr. holds a press conference outside his re-election headquarters in Scottsboro, Jackson County, in 1975. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command/Redstone Arsenal)

Portrait of Robert E. Jones Jr. (AMRDEC History, U.S. Army)

Robert E. Jones Jr. taking the oath of office on Jan. 28, 1947. (U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command/Redstone Arsenal)

Painting of Robert E. Jones. (Irving Resnikoff, U.S. House of Representatives, Wikipedia)

In this 1961 photo, rocket scientist Wernher von Braun shows Alabama Congressman Robert E. Jones Jr. the site of a proposed research institute at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command/Redstone Arsenal)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.