February 28, 1984

Born in Scottsboro on June 12, 1912, Robert Emmett “Bob” Jones Jr. was a conservative Democratic congressman from north Alabama and was noted for having the longest service of any member of Congress from the state. Jones, who served from 1947 to 1977, supported the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA), along with public works and waterway programs. He was on the Public Works and Transportation Committee and the Governmental Operations Committee. One of his most notable contributions was writing an amendment to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Act that gave the agency permission to raise funds through bonds to pay for additional power facilities. He sponsored the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 and the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 to boost rural development. On Feb. 28, 1984, the Alabama Legislature recognized Jones by passing a resolution thanking him for his many years of service. Bob Jones High School in Madison County was named in his honor. Scottsboro gave his name to an avenue in the city and a bridge over the Tennessee River. On Nov. 3, 1987, President Ronald Reagan signed a law designating part of Corridor V in Alabama as the Robert E. (Bob) Jones Jr. Highway. Jones died at age 84 on June 4, 1997.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Portrait of Robert E. Jones Jr., 1965. (Pocket Congressional Directory, Wikipedia)

Congressman Robert E. Jones (1912-1997), a native of Scottsboro, Jackson County, presides over a water quality hearing in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1975. Jones served as vice chair of the National Commission on Water Quality in 1976. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command/Redstone Arsenal)

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)

Painting of Robert Emmett Jones Jr., 1976. (Irving Resnikoff, CJ Fox, Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives)

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