Description

Rufus Matthew Jones (1863-1948) was an American writer, journal editor, and college professor. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Haverford Emergency Unit. One of the most influential Quakers of the 20th century, he was a Quaker historian and theologian as well as a philosopher. He is the only person to have delivered two Swarthmore Lectures. In 1885 he graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and stayed on to earn his M. A. there in 1886. From 1893 to 1912 he was the editor of the Friends' Review (later called The American Friend). In 1901 Jones received another M. A. from Harvard. He also began teaching philosophy and psychology at Haverford in 1893 and continued to do so until retiring in 1934. From 1898 to 1936 he served on the board of trustees of Bryn Mawr College. In 1917 he helped found the American Friends Service Committee. In 1927 Jones took a trip to Asia at the invitation of the YMCA. His main purpose was to address missionaries in China, but he made stops in Japan, India, and the Holy Land as well.