Mona Lake Jones
Poet and educator Mona Lake Jones (known to many as “Grandhoney”) was born on August 30, 1939 in Mason City, now Grand Coulee, Washington. The daughter of Pauline Sims Lake and Sylvester James Lake, Jones grew up in Spokane, Washington where she attended McKinley Elementary School, Libby Junior High School and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1957. There, she was a drum majorette who enjoyed music and poetry. Attending Washington State University on a music scholarship, Jones was the only black woman on campus for an entire semester. She graduated with her B.S. degree in education in 1961. Jones later attended the University of Washington and earned her Ed.D. degree in education from Seattle University in 1991.
Moving to Seattle, Washington, Jones taught in Seattle Public Schools, area colleges and was a leader in Mt. Zion Baptist Church’s Ethnic School, a Saturday school to unite children around common themes of heritage, assertiveness and academics. Jones has served as president of the Washington State Community College Black Educators, as National Vice-President of the Council of Black American Affairs and was president of the Black Child Development Institute from 1995 to 1997. She was also Director of Public Relations for Seattle Community Colleges.
Jones’ first poem was published in Essence magazine in 1990 and that led her to write The Color of Culture, now in its seventh printing, and two sequels, The Color of Culture II and The Color of Culture III. She also authored Unleashing the Power of a Sister. Her 1992 poem, “A Roomful of Sisters” was commissioned by 100 Black Women of Boston, a national civic group, and exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The poem inspired a painting by Paul Goodnight, a number of conferences and a yearly New York meeting called ARFOS. Jones has served as a poet curator and a poet laureate for the City of Seattle and King County. She is a full-time poet and motivational speaker, spending much of her time on the road, speaking at colleges, conventions and to civic groups about issues of culture and diversity. Jones has appeared on programs with Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Susan Taylor, Maxine Waters, Shirley Chisholm, Myrlie Evers-Williams and Randall Robinson. Jones also composed the lyrics for Vanessa Williams’ musical recording of “Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly”. Jones has received numerous awards, including the Blackbird Literary Award and the Langston Hughes Award.
Jones is married to publisher, Joe Jones, has two grown children and three grandchildren.
Jones was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on October 28, 2007.
A2007.310
Female
6/5/2008 |and| 10/28/2007 |and| 10/7/2017
Jones
Lake
Clarke High School
McKinley Elementary School
Libby Junior High School
Lewis & Clark High School
Washington State University
University of Washington
Seattle University
Mona
Mason City
JON19
Summer
Washington
Caribbean
Kindness is magnetic. It draws out the best in others.

Washington
8/30/1939
Seattle
United States
Chicken, Dumplings
Poet, education administrator, and motivational speaker Mona Lake Jones (1939 - ) served as president of the Washington State Community College Black Educators and was president of the Black Child Development Institute from 1995 to 1997. She served as poet curator of Seattle and poet laureate of King County.
Harrison School
Seattle Community Colleges
Purple
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Mona Lake Jones' interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Mona Lake Jones lists her favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Mona Lake Jones describes her mother's family background, pt. 1
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Mona Lake Jones describes her mother's family background, pt. 2
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Mona Lake Jones describes her mother's upbringing
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Mona Lake Jones describes her father's family background and education
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Mona Lake Jones describes her parents' relationship
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Mona Lake Jones describes her father's career
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Mona Lake Jones describes her father's personality and her likeness to him
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Mona Lake Jones recalls her neighborhood in Spokane, Washington
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Mona Lake Jones describes her earliest childhood memory
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Mona Lake Jones recalls her early awareness of race
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Mona Lake Jones describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Mona Lake Jones remembers her drama lessons
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Mona Lake Jones recalls her early activities
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Mona Lake Jones describes her early experiences of racial discrimination
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Mona Lake Jones remembers the Orbit Club in Spokane, Washington
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Mona Lake Jones recalls Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Washington
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Mona Lake Jones recalls her social life at the State College of Washington in Pullman, Washington
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Mona Lake Jones describes her experiences at the State College of Washington
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Mona Lake Jones remembers her professors at the State College of Washington
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Mona Lake Jones reflects upon her experiences of discrimination, pt. 1
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Mona Lake Jones reflects upon her experiences of discrimination, pt. 2
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Mona Lake Jones recalls her early teaching career in Seattle, Washington
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Mona Lake Jones remembers learning about African American history
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Mona Lake Jones talks about her graduate education
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Mona Lake Jones describes the Mt. Zion Ethnic School in Seattle, Washington, pt. 1
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Mona Lake Jones describes the Mt. Zion Ethnic School in Seattle, Washington, pt. 2
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Mona Lake Jones recalls working with the Black Child Development Institute
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Mona Lake Jones describes her organizational involvement
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Mona Lake Jones remembers her doctoral dissertation
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Mona Lake Jones talks about her parenting philosophy
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Mona Lake Jones describes her early poetry
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Mona Lake Jones describes the inspiration for her poetry
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Mona Lake Jones describes her concerns for the African American community
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Mona Lake Jones reflects upon her life
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Mona Lake Jones describes her family
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Mona Lake Jones reflects upon her legacy
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Mona Lake Jones describes how she would like to be remembered
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Mona Lake Jones narrates her photographs, pt. 1
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Mona Lake Jones narrates her photographs, pt. 2
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Mona Lake Jones narrates her photographs, video and transcript
Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Slating of Mona Lake Jones' interview, session 3
Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Mona Lake Jones describes her role in public relations for Seattle Community Colleges in Seattle, Washington
Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Mona Lake Jones recalls her work in teacher education at Pacific Oaks College - Northwest in Seattle, Washington
Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Mona Lake Jones talks about the renaming of King County in the State of Washington
Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Mona Lake Jones describes her philosophy on education
Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Mona Lake Jones talks about her work with the YWCA in Seattle, Washington
Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Mona Lake Jones talks about the mandate of the YWCA
Tape: 7 Story: 8 - Mona Lake Jones describes her weekly meetings with other African American senior citizens
Tape: 7 Story: 9 - Mona Lake Jones talks about her book, 'Nectar from Grandhoney,' pt. 1
Tape: 8 Story: 1 - Mona Lake Jones talks about the 2008 presidential election
Tape: 8 Story: 2 - Mona Lake Jones describes her work with senior citizens
Tape: 8 Story: 3 - Mona Lake Jones talks about her book, 'Nectar from Grandhoney,' pt. 2
Tape: 8 Story: 4 - Mona Lake Jones talks about her recent book projects
Tape: 8 Story: 5 - Mona Lake Jones reflects upon her life and legacy
Tape: 8 Story: 6 - Mona Lake Jones describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community
Tape: 8 Story: 7 - Mona Lake Jones talks about her racial identity
Tape: 8 Story: 8 - Mona Lake Jones describes how she would like to be remembered
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