Doris W. Jones

Doris W. Jones was born on June 3, 1913 in Malden, Massachusetts. She wanted to become a ballet dancer, even though she had never met a black ballet dancer and many studios refused to teach her. However, some let her watch the classes, and from then on she taught herself through observation and books. Soon, she began to teach others. She founded the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet in 1941 with Claire Haywood in Washington, D.C., in order to allow black students to train in ballet. Ms. Jones died on March 21, 2006, in Washington, D.C.

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