Rick Jones oral history interview, May 14, 2017

Item — othertype: Oral History

Identifier: JonesR_L2017-25

Staff Only

Rick Jones oral history

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Scope and Contents

Interviewed by Traci Drummond. In this interview, Rick Jones discusses his childhood and education, particularly how they were influenced by race. He also discusses how he became an air traffic controller and his career in that line of work. He discusses how race relations affected his work at the FAA and led him to create the Coalition of Black Controllers. He concludes the interview by discussing the consulting/training work he has done in retirement and his youth aviation program, Let's Go Up to the 21st Century.

Dates

Creation: May 14, 2017

Restrictions on Access

Oral history available for research.

Biographical Note

Rick Jones was born in 1943 in Washington, D.C. He attended McKinley Technical High School. He worked for the Federal Aviation Administration as an air traffic control supervisor from 1967 until 1994. While at the FAA, Jones helped create the Coalition of Black Controllers. After leaving the FAA, Jones worked as a consultant and training engineer until 2005. In 1995, he began an aviation youth program called Let's Go Up to the 21st Century.