Why You Should Know J.D. Shelley and Joseph Jones’ Names

J.D. Shelley and Joseph Lee Jones.

They’re not household names. But the impact of these two men is felt in millions of households throughout the U.S.

Both African American. Both from Missouri. Both history makers.

Fifty-two years ago, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law and with it, the Fair Housing Act. The passage came only days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. but more than 100 years after housing discrimination was first prohibited – although never federally protected against.

Two U.S. Supreme Court cases – Shelley v. Kraemer and Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. – helped the Act’s passage, thereby making it illegal to discriminate against anyone in the rental or sale of a residence based on race, color, national origin, religion, familial status, disability and, now, sex.

In honor of Black History Month, these are the stories of the real people behind the two landmark cases. These are the stories of J.D. Shelley and Joseph Lee Jones.

J.D. Shelley

In 1945, J.D. Shelley and his wife Ethel were sued by Louis D. Kraemer. The reason? They purchased a home in a covenant-restricted neighborhood in St. Louis. The Mississippi natives and their six children had moved from their home state in the 1930s in part to leave racial oppression behind.

Once in Missouri, however, they found it difficult to purchase property without being Caucasian. That is until a two-apartment building on Labadie Avenue became available and the seller ignored the covenant in order to make the sale. Kraemer, a nearby homeowner, took Shelley to court – and lost. But Kraemer appealed and the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the decision, meaning the racial covenant could be enforced and the Shelleys could not acquire the title. 

Three years after the original trial, Shelley appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. His representation included George Vaughn, an army veteran and son of former slaves, and Thurgood Marshall, who would go on to become the first African American Supreme Court Justice.

In 1948, in a 6-0 decision, the justices ruled that due to the 14th Amendment, courts could not enforce covenants, though covenants weren’t deemed illegal.

Shelley and his family moved into the house, which today is a National Historic Landmark and also a private residence.

Read J.D.’s story in his own words.

Joseph Lee Jones

Joseph Jones and his wife Barbara were “two nobodies who wanted a house,” as Barbara told it. The biracial couple – he was African American, she was Caucasian – were federal employees of the Veterans Administration, seeking to purchase a new house in 1965. They found the neighborhood, the lot and the model they liked – and were ready to buy the home for $28,195. But the St. Louis homebuilder, Alfred H. Mayer Co., refused because Joseph was black.

Court after court sided with the builder, a private company they said the law didn’t apply to. But Jones and his legal team stood their ground that by discriminating based on race, Alfred H. Mayer Co. was in clear violation of the Civil Rights Acts of 1866. It wasn’t until the case landed in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1968 – days before King’s murder – that the winds began to shift in the couple’s favor.

The Joneses had already purchased another house at this point, as their desired home was sold out from under them during the years-long litigation. But in June 1968, in a 7-2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition of housing discrimination applied across government and private sectors. The Fair Housing Act had been enacted two months prior to the decision.