Bound for a place in history

Elia Powers

For 33 years, Web Jones taught math at Newport Harbor High School.

His current lesson is one on family history. And he hopes it

reaches readers beyond the classroom.

Jones, 81, spent the past two years editing a book about his

great-grandmother, Lucinda Hinsdale Stone, a politically active

educator who lived in the 19th century and corresponded with many

prominent figures from that era.

He called upon a former student, Sandra Bankston, to write most of

the 115-page “Dynamo of the 19th Century: Lucinda Hinsdale Stone,”

which Jones is marketing to publishers.

“I was enchanted by her story,” Bankston said of Stone. “It felt

like we had a lot in common.”

The book was printed in December with a two-page introduction

written by Jones.

He and Bankston worked through numerous drafts of the book,

relying heavily on personal accounts written by Stone in her memoir

and historical documents written about her life.

Many of those books are kept in Jones’ personal library. A photo

album of Stone’s travels is the centerpiece of the collection.

Jones’ fascination with his great-grandmother is a recent

phenomenon.

“I wasn’t always interested in learning about her,” Jones said.

“But when I started writing my genealogy, I found out she was a

remarkable woman.”

The youngest of 12 children, Stone was born in Vermont in 1814.

Her first notable job was in Mississippi, where Stone tutored

children on a plantation. She wrote in her memoir of immediate

exposure to racism that caused her to become active in abolitionist

causes.

Stone spent most of her career at Kalamazoo College in Michigan,

where she taught English and art history to female students. Her

husband, James, was the school’s president and taught many of the

men.

During her 20-year teaching tenure, Stone wrote letters to

activists such as Frederick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony. Douglas

gave lectures in Jones’ classes, and Anthony occasionally stayed at

her house.

Jones has a copy of a letter written from Anthony thanking Stone

for her work in the women’s suffrage movement.

When Stone’s husband was accused of immoral behavior involving one

of his students in 1863 -- of which he was later exonerated -- the

two left their posts at the school. Stone taught many of her former

students from the couple’s home, and she took them on educational

trips through Europe.

Her students stood upon the Great Pyramid, visited with the

emperor of Brazil and listened to author Victor Hugo give a funeral

oration.

“She had so much energy, and she loved to travel.” Jones said.

Upon her return, Stone convinced the University of Michigan to

admit its first female class in 1870. For her efforts, Stone was

awarded a Ph.D from the school 20 years later.

“She had an incredible love for her students,” Bankston said.

“Because of her work, women throughout the country had greater

opportunities in academia.”

Jones has carried on his great-grandmothers’ legacy through

teaching. He received an outstanding contribution to education award

from the Newport-Mesa Education Assn. in 1975 and retired from the

district seven years later.

And Jones has motivated his niece, Elizabeth Harris, to write her

own book about Stone’s life.

“This is something that is close to all of our hearts,” Harris

said. “Web will always be the family historian -- the one who helps

us all stay in touch.”

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.