ABSTRACT
References to Caroline Jones’ advertising career often emphasize how she started in the industry as a secretary. That fact, by itself, is unremarkable since many adwomen of her era started in clerical positions. What is significant is that she was a trailblazer in many other respects and rose to become one of the most respected and influential women in the advertising profession. Named as the Advertising Woman of the Year by the Women’s Advertising Club of New York in 1990, sources called Jones a “role model” and the “preeminent black woman in advertising” (Tharpe, 1988; Vagoni, 2001). Given her accomplishments, Jones’ career is typically described as a “success story” (Fleming, 1996). Yet, despite the accolades, Jones believed her professional career was limited by what she termed “caste-typing” – opportunity constraints based on race and gender. In 1990, reflecting on her career after many years in advertising, Jones explained her opinions, using the “castetyping” terminology:
Jones’ career path was characterized by a zig-zag pattern of trailblazing positions with large general-market advertising firms interspersed with significant entrepreneurial ventures in the field. As such, this chapter organizes her biographical narrative around two major career trajectories rather than a chronological scheme: (1) her experiences in important pioneering roles in major general-market advertising agencies; and (2) her experiences with entrepreneurial advertising ventures where she was a key executive or owner of the establishment. Her experiences not only tell a compelling personal story, but also underscore the significant challenges faced by women of color in the advertising business. Jones apparently sensed her significance in history and donated her personal and business papers and artifacts to the archives of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in 1996, providing a rich source of information about her life and career. This chapter relies on these resources and supplemental materials to reconstruct Jones’ career and gain insight into her views and experiences. Secondary sources concerning conditions in the broader society and advertising industry culture during Jones’ lifetime are included to provide appropriate context.
