James Wormley Jones

James Wormley Jones (September 22, 1884 – December 11, 1958) was an African-American policeman and World War I veteran, who is best known for having been the first African-American Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent.

Early life Jones was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia. At a young age, he moved with his family to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he completed his early education. Returning to Virginia, he took up studies at Norfolk Mission College and a year later went to continue his education at Virginia Union University, though he did not graduate.

During that time he became an instructor with the 92nd Division School of Specialists. His work there resulted in his being promoted to senior instructor. With the war's end in 1918, he resigned from his post and resumed his work at the Metropolitan Police.

FBI and Marcus Garvey

Jones was appointed as the first African-American special agent on November 19, 1919, by Bureau of Investigation director A. Bruce Bielaski. Jones was assigned to a new section of the Justice Department created to track the activities of groups perceived as subversive. His work there was under the direct supervision of J. Edgar Hoover.

During his time in the FBI, Jones served in New York City and Pittsburgh. In New York, he was assigned to infiltrate the Universal Negro Improvement Association under the leadership of Marcus Garvey. Although he was seeking evidence of subversive activities during the "Red Scare" of 1919, Jones' work led to the arrest and trial of Garvey on mail fraud charges.

While conducting his surveillance, Jones adopted the code number 800 for his reports and was also known as agent "800". He knew that his clandestine role was not well concealed. During a March 1920 speech at the UNIA Liberty Hall, he took special pains to point out to the audience that he was true of African ancestry, although he had the appearance of a person of Caucasian or European ancestry. Nevertheless, he engendered the trust of the UNIA leadership to such an extent that he was able to gain responsibility for registering all incoming correspondence. His access to UNIA correspondence and his position as Adjutant General in the African Legion were essential in enabling his information-gathering activities.

In August 1921 Jones began conducting similar surveillance on the African Blood Brotherhood. Eventually recognized as an ex-police officer, Jones was no longer an asset as a clandestine agent and he resigned from the Bureau on April 14, 1923.

Jones died on December 11, 1958, in Dormont, Pennsylvania.

On the February 10th, 2021, episode of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Roy Wood Jr. performed a comedy segment on James Wormley Jones accusing him of being a "black spy" who put Marcus Garvey in prison.