RELEASE: HILL PUSHES TO PRESERVE LITTLE ROCK LANDMARK

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) introduced H.R. 9148, the Scipio Jones House Assessment Act. If passed, this bill would require the Department of the Interior (DOI) to do a special resource study of the Scipio Jones House with a report to Congress three years after enactment. The study would lay the groundwork for preserving the house and potentially bringing it into the National Park System.

Rep. Hill said, "Scipio Jones is one of the most important figures in American civil rights history, and a proud Arkansas native. He saved 12 men from death row, took their case all the way to the Supreme Court, won, and changed constitutional law for every American who has ever stood accused. While I'm grateful to the City of Little Rock for helping to save this landmark, I'm concerned that the Scipio Jones property continues to be vacant and to deteriorate, and I'm proud to lead the effort to restore it in a way that honors this great Arkansan's legacy."

Background

Specifically, this bill would evaluate:

• The national significance of the study area,
• The suitability and feasibility of designating the study area as a unit of the National Historic Landmark and affiliated area of the National Park System.
• The feasibility of making the home an extension of the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.
• Alternatives for preservation and protection of the study area
• Cost estimates for any Federal acquisition, development, interpretation, operation, and maintenance associated with the alternatives.

In 2020, Rep. Hill's bill to permit a portrait of Scipio Jones to be displayed at the Little Rock post office that bears his name was signed into law. The portrait, painted by Arkansas artist Wade Hampton, was unveiled at the post office in February 2022.

About Scipio Jones:

Scipio Africanus Jones, who was born to an enslaved person in 1863, attended Walden Seminary (now Philander Smith University) and then attended Bethel Institute (now Shorter College), earning his bachelor's degree in 1885. In 1889, Jones passed the bar and was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Arkansas in 1900 and by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1905.

After the horrific massacre of Black Americans in Elaine, Arkansas, in 1919, Scipio Jones defended 12 wrongly accused Black men who had been charged with murder and condemned by all-white juries.

Despite the Elaine Massacre being described as a "race riot," most of the victims were Black and most of the aggressors were white. With his clients already facing execution, Jones fought their convictions in both state and federal courts. An appeal was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that the accused had been denied due process of law. After reviewing the case, the Supreme Court agreed and overturned the convictions. Moore v. Dempsey changed the nature of the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause. The landmark ruling allows federal courts to hear and examine evidence in state criminal cases to ensure that the defendants' constitutional due process rights are protected.