[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 140 (Thursday, October 8, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            HONORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JESSE HOLMAN JONES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEN BENTSEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 7, 1998

  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the efforts of Houston 
Endowment Inc. to highlight the life of Jesse Holman Jones, who during 
his lifetime was widely known as one of the most powerful leaders in 
the nation, and because of his vast contributions to the growth of the 
City of Houston, became known as ``Mr. Houston.''
  On November 10, 1998, Houston Endowment Inc. will host a Centennial 
Celebration of the remarkable contributions of Jesse Holman Jones, 
beginning with a champagne reception followed by the world premiere of 
the documentary, ``Brother, Can You Spare a Billion? The Story of Jesse 
H. Jones.''
  Jesse H. Jones was born in Tennessee but moved to Texas at the age of 
seventeen, first working in a lumberyard for his uncle, then later 
establishing his own 60 lumberyards across the Southwest. As an 
extension of the lumberyards, he began building small houses south of 
downtown Houston, which he financed for working class families by 
offering 20-year mortgages, a new concept at the time. He eventually 
progressed to commercial structures, and in 1907 he announced that he 
would build the city's three tallest buildings. The nine-story Bristol 
Hotel, Houston's first ``skyscraper'', elevated Houston's stature; the 
10-story Houston Chronicle Building brought Mr. Jones half interest in 
a thriving newspaper; and the 10-story Texas Company Building helped 
make Texaco and the petroleum industry a permanent part of the city's 
business community. Within 25 years, he had transformed Houston's Main 
Street and downtown into the region's most prominent business district, 
filled with office buildings, movie theaters, hotels, apartment 
buildings, department stores, and parking garages.
  Mr. Jones' role in developing Houston's economy was as important as 
his role in building its skyline. He invested in local banks and became 
Chairman of the National Bank of Commerce, later to become Texas 
Commerce Bank and today's Chase Bank of Texas. His portrait still hangs 
in the majestic lobby of the bank's flagship office. Through his 
banking interests, Mr. Jones helped industrialize and internationalize 
Houston. He supported other growing industries, such as the radio and 
television industry, while convincing the federal government to enter 
into a public-private partnership to build the Houston Ship Channel, 
which today includes the Port of Houston, the nation's second busiest 
port. Such public-private partnerships were unheard of at the time.

  Mr. Jones attracted the attention of President Woodrow Wilson and 
accepted the position of Director General of Military Relief for the 
American Red Cross. After the war, Mr. Jones helped reorganize the Red 
Cross from a loose-knit group of local societies into the permanent 
international relief agency it is today. In addition, in 1928 as 
Finance Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, he brought the 
party's national convention to Houston, the first major political 
convention to be held in the South since before the Civil War.
  When the stock market crashed and the nation plunged into the Great 
Depression, Mr. Jones called the city's business leaders together and 
worked out a plan that prevented any bank failures in Houston during 
the Great Depression. Mr. Jones' business and financial insight were 
called upon when President Herbert Hoover asked him to serve on the 
board of the newly created Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC); 
President Franklin Roosevelt expanded the RFC's powers and made Mr. 
Jones its chairman. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the 
Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Export-
Import Bank are only a few of the many enduring agencies created by Mr. 
Jones and the RFC.
  Mr. Jones would go on to be Secretary of Commerce during the ``New 
Deal'' and today scholars give Jesse Jones credit for saving the 
American capitalist economy, for mobilizing industry in time to fight 
and win World War II, and for radically changing the relationship 
between government, business and citizens.
  After 14 years of public service in Washington, DC, Jesse Jones had 
won the respect of Democrats and Republicans alike, as he exercised his 
authority with diplomacy, patience, and equity. He and his wife, Mary 
Gibbs Jones, returned to Houston in 1946 and began to focus on 
philanthropy. By the time Jesse Holman Jones passed away on June 1, 
1956, Houston Endowment Inc., the foundation he created in partnership 
with his wife, Mary, had helped more than 4,000 students through 
scholarship programs in 57 colleges and universities. Just months 
before he passed away, the town of 40,000 he came to in 1898 had 
obtained its one millionth citizen.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend Houston Endowment Inc. for reminding 
Houstonians of the life of Jesse H. Jones, one of our most prominent 
citizens.

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