Chapter Invisible

Leslie Nolan Agard-Jones was born in Barbados, West Indies and at twelve years old came to live with his maternal grandparents in East Elmhurst, New York. He attended the private Rhodes School in Manhattan and graduated from Newtown High School.

Leslie earned his B.A. in History from St. John’s University; his M.A. in History, specializing in African Affairs, from St. John’s; and his Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration and Supervision from Seton Hall University. He was a proud member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, into which he was initiated at the Columbia University Omicron Chapter in 1965, which he commemorated on his Virginia license plate, “65 Bro”.

He was an outstanding member of the St. John’s University Track and Field Team. His many achievements included being the 1964 and 1965 Indoor Canadian AAU Champion in the 300-yard dash. He was also the Junior Metropolitan Champion in the 100-yard dash in 1965. He competed in many major track and field meets, including the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden, and the Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Track and Field was his lifelong love and passion.

He began his career in education at Christ the King High School, teaching history and serving as the assistant track coach. He went on to a prominent career in higher education teaching and establishing curricula at St. John’s and Queens College before joining the faculty at William Paterson University. He rose from Assistant Professor in African and African-American Studies, to Chairman of the Black Studies Department, to Dean of the College of Education at William Paterson University. From 1993 to 1995, he was Director of the Office of Multicultural Education at the New York City Board of Education system, the largest in the nation.

Leslie lectured prolifically and wrote a great many articles published in both scholarly and popular venues. He had an extensive record of service across a wide range of disciplines, most proudly in Multicultural and Women’s Studies, and especially in Black Studies.

In 1985, he was a Fulbright Fellow in West Africa, including Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Senegal. He was with a group of ten Fellows who met with government officials, higher education faculty members and administrators, U.S. Embassy officials, community members, and local villagers, primarily in Liberia. His purpose was to learn what measures were taken in those countries to accommodate the resettlement of formerly enslaved people from the United States and Caribbean countries. He noted that the acceptance of Western names for communities and the reality of a class system that favored those persons who had Western names provided a great deal of research possibilities. In 1995, he was asked to travel to Cuba with a group of fellow educators to observe and learn from their educational system.

Leslie and Joyce moved to Brooklyn in 1974 to become part of the brave, intrepid “pioneers” saving and renovating the borough’s iconic New York City brownstones. His community involvement was total, from block association president to chairman of the Fort Greene Landmark Committee, shepherding the designation of what became the second-largest landmarked district in New York City.

Their move to New Jersey in 1999 did not stop Leslie’s community involvement, which found him on the board of the Hamilton Partnership in Paterson. As a fellow member remembers, “On our numerous visits for meetings at the Board of Education, it was impossible to walk with Les more than a few steps down a hallway without virtually every staff member greeting him with big

hugs—often with kisses too— and thanking him for everything he had taught them at William Paterson that launched their careers, changed the course of their lives, and improved the quality of education for thousands of students in Paterson and beyond.”

Their final move was to Williamsburg, Virginia, where he spent the last ten years making new friends and enjoying his deserved retirement.

Les was an intelligent, handsome, charming, dynamic, and fun-loving man. There are many wonderful and a wide variety of stories about his exploits from his college days to his retirement days. He truly treasured the time spent traveling and in fellowship with close friends. Unbeknownst to most, Leslie also had a deep love for his feline companions over the years, who are surely glad to be reunited with their stalwart (and favorite) caretaker: Uncus, Marmalade, Mosey, Avril, Beauty, Brother X, Tallulah, Alek, Apollo, Viole,t and Jasper.