Nathaniel Jones talks about his life at campus presentation Oct. 20

Retired federal judge Nathaniel Jones, Youngstown State University alumnus and nationally-renowned attorney and Civil Rights advocate, presents a synopsis of his recently-published memoirs 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, in the DeBartolo Stadium Club on the campus of Youngstown State University.

The presentation, followed by a panel discussion and book signing, is free and open to the public and sponsored by the Youngstown Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Refreshments will be served.

The appearance is presented in conjunction with the YSU Foundation. Donations may be made to the Judge Nathaniel Jones Scholarship Fund at the Foundation.

Jones, who earned bachelor’s and law degrees from Youngstown College in the 1950s, recently authored a book of his memoirs that spans his 70-year law career and America’s Civil Rights Movement. The book is titled “Answering the Call: An Autobiography of the Modern Struggle to End Racial Discrimination in America.”

A retired U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals judge, Jones served as general counsel for the NAACP from 1969 to 1979 and worked with Nelson Mandela and the post-apartheid South African government to help draft a new constitution for that country in 1993.

He is the recipient of several awards, most recently the 2016 NAACP Spingarn Medal Award and the National Underground Freedom Center International Freedom Conductor Award. He also has received the YSU Friend of the University Award, and in 2003 the new federal courthouse in Youngstown was named the Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and United States Courthouse.