Gilbert Jonas
Encyclopedia
Gilbert Maurice Jonas was an American
businessman and long-time fundraiser for the NAACP.
Born in Brooklyn, Jonas graduated from Stanford University
in 1951, and earned a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University
. After a stint in the Army’s public information office, he served as a public relations adviser to the African independence movement in the late 1950’s. Later he became acting director of the Far East section of the Peace Corps
.
From 1962 till the mid-1990’s, Jonas ran the Gilbert Jonas Company, a public relations and fund-raising firm based in Manhattan where he lived. Active in progressive political causes, Jonas served as the N.A.A.C.P.’s chief fund-raiser from 1965 to 1995, helping to raise $110 million for the organization during that period.
In June 1995, Jonas filed suit against the N.A.A.C.P., charging fiscal impropriety and back pay and damages. The suit was settled out of court later that summer, with the N.A.A.C.P. agreeing to pay Mr. Jonas’s back pay.
In 2005, Jonas published the book Freedom’s Sword: The NAACP and the Struggle Against Racism in America, 1909-1969, with a foreword by civil-rights leader Julian Bond
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman and long-time fundraiser for the NAACP.
Born in Brooklyn, Jonas graduated from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1951, and earned a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. After a stint in the Army’s public information office, he served as a public relations adviser to the African independence movement in the late 1950’s. Later he became acting director of the Far East section of the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
.
From 1962 till the mid-1990’s, Jonas ran the Gilbert Jonas Company, a public relations and fund-raising firm based in Manhattan where he lived. Active in progressive political causes, Jonas served as the N.A.A.C.P.’s chief fund-raiser from 1965 to 1995, helping to raise $110 million for the organization during that period.
In June 1995, Jonas filed suit against the N.A.A.C.P., charging fiscal impropriety and back pay and damages. The suit was settled out of court later that summer, with the N.A.A.C.P. agreeing to pay Mr. Jonas’s back pay.
In 2005, Jonas published the book Freedom’s Sword: The NAACP and the Struggle Against Racism in America, 1909-1969, with a foreword by civil-rights leader Julian Bond
Julian Bond
Horace Julian Bond , known as Julian Bond, is an American social activist and leader in the American civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the early 1960s, he helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating...
.