Fannie C. Williams, one of New Orleans' premier educators in the first half of the twentieth century, led this school through decades of challenge and change, gained national recognition as an active civic leader, and was appointed to three presidential commissions. During her tenure, guests at the school included Eleanor Roosevelt, James Weldon Johnson, Mary McLeod Bethune, Dr. W. E. B. Dubois, Dr. George Washington Carver, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Jesse Owens, and Dale Carnegie, among many others. Valena C. Jones School arose largely through the efforts of Rev. Alfred Lawless, Beecher Congregational Church, and the Seventh Ward Educational League, which in 1904 began seeking an adequate school for neighborhood children, raised funds, and bought lots at Annette and North Miro Streets to build one. In 1918, Fannie C. Williams became principal and the Miro Street School was renamed for Valena C. Jones, an educator, editor of the Southwesten Christian Advocate, and wife of Bishop Robert E. Jones. In 1923, the School Board established the Jones School Normal teacher training program, and throughout the 1920's Mrs. Jones, Dr. Joseph Hardin, and the Seventh Ward Educational League pressed for a larger, better equipped building, achieving that goal in 1928 with a new facility that included radio in the auditorium, an electric refrigerator, gas ovens for the domestic science department, and a state-of-the-art infirmary.