ATLANTA — Elmira Jones Williams grew up surrounded by history in Atlanta.
Williams' father, the late Johnnie Paul Jones, was one of the first eight Black police officers in Atlanta and lived alongside his two daughters right around the corner from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"He enjoyed it. He was proud to be a policeman. He was proud to represent Black people," said Williams.
Williams, a current patient at Atlanta's JenCare Senior Medical Center, said she and her father met the minister and Civil Rights leaders when he lived on Old Johnson Avenue.
In 1948, Atlanta Police Chief Herbert T. Jenkins swore in the first eight Black police officers. Williams explained that her father was scouted and chosen to become one of the first eight.
"They asked him and they tested them. I understand my father tested very high. He had a very high score," Williams said. "They then sent him to the police precinct."
According to Williams, before being scouted, Jones' attended Morehouse College but was later drafted by the army during World War II.
The first eight Black policemen faced immense challenges and segregation by the community and their police department.
Williams remembered her father and his colleagues being unable to arrest white people, drive squad cars or work from the central precinct. The eight policemen would use the YMCA downtown as their precinct.
Restrictions as to when the eight policemen could wear their uniform also existed, Williams said.
The police officers were not allowed to walk to work wearing their uniform and had to wait to change at the YMCA before and after work. Also, they were required to obtain some sort of college education before becoming officers.
They were sent to Atlanta's John Marshall Law School to take required courses.
Jones then attended Georgia Tech and was known as one of the first Black students to attend the university, Williams said. After leaving Georgia Tech, Jones became the first Black man to chair the Chatham County Savannah Planning Commission, according to the Savannah Tribune.
Apart from being one of the first Black police officers in Atlanta, his daughter explains Jones was also the last living officer of the original eight. Jones passed away at 92 in 2013. Ten years later, his legacy is still remembered and appreciated.
"I knew he was a brilliant man," said Williams. "He was a trailblazer and I was very proud. You know, he carried himself in a way that you would be proud of him."