Series III

The Jones collection is comprised of administrative files that pertain to the Department of Justice Alien Property Division (1934-1959) and contains claims and litigation files including correspondence, memoranda and other materials; numbered opinions of the Division’s General Counsel; claims decisions and related correspondence; and numerous drafts proposals and correspondence regarding the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. Of special interest are the gold cases.

The bulk of the collection, Series I, concerns Jones' work in the Justice Department from the late thirties to the early fifties, although his entire career there (1934-1959) is documented. Series II contains the record of Jones' work on international judicial assistance, 1950-1966, with some copies of documents dating from the thirties. Jones kept a "Personal Correspondence File" which dates from 1917 through the 1960's, and these files along with newsclippings constitute Series III.

This collection will be useful to scholars interested in U.S. treatment of enemy property during the two world wars, and efforts after the second world war to establish better judicial cooperation among nations. Jones' papers thoroughly document the internal workings of the Justice Department's Alien Property Division over a 25-year period, as well as the struggle between Franklin Roosevelt's Justice and Treasury Departments over control of enemy property. There is no indication that Jones had to leave any of his files behind when he left the Justice Department. Since he had a pivotal position in his division, his records provide an exceptionally detailed and unrestricted view of his time and place in government service.