Elaine R. Jones, director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), will deliver the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the North Cafeteria of Webb Center.

The university's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award will be presented to Mamie E. Locke. The mayor of Hampton, Locke is the city's first popularly elected woman and the first African American to hold the post.

Born in Norfolk, Elaine Jones came of age in the Jim Crow South and learned its painful lessons early on. She knew from the age of 8 she wanted to be a lawyer and to commit her life to the pursuit of equal justice.

After graduating with honors in political science from Howard University, Jones served in the Peace Corps, becoming one of the first African Americans to serve in Turkey. She then became the first black woman to enroll in the University of Virginia School of Law and was its first female African-American graduate.

Upon graduation, Jones pursued her lifelong goal by joining the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund staff and, with the exception of two years in a government post, she has remained there since. As a member of LDF, she has made significant contributions to U.S. legislation, including serving as counsel of record in Furman vs. Georgia, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that abolished the death penalty in 37 states.

Under her direction, the Legal Defense Fund has broadened its mission to include emerging priorities - such as health care reform, environmental justice and curbing violence - while continuing the long-standing struggles for educational equity, fair employment, voting rights, fair housing and unbiased administration of the criminal justice system.