Classie Jones Green was born in Milo, Ashley County, Arkansas, on October 28, 1946.
Green graduated from Drew High School in 1964. She trained as an LPN at Pines Vocational-Technical School (now Southeast Arkansas College) and graduated in 1967. Green then attended the first Registered Nurse program at University of Arkansas, Monticello and was the first African American RN graduate in 1972.
Green was an LPN at Drew Memorial Hospital starting in 1967 and an RN after her graduation. She became the campus nurse at the University of Arkansas, Monticello (UAM) from 1975 to 1987. Green worked at the Jefferson Regional Medical Center trauma department in Pine Bluff and then was the occupational nurse for International Paper from 1990 until her retirement from nursing in 2005.
She was president of the Pine Bluff district NAACP for four years and is a Silver Lifetime Member. Green has also been chairperson of the UAM African American Alumni Association and a UAM Foundation Fund board member. The University of Arkansas, Monticello has an endowed a scholarship in her honor, the Classie Jones Green African American Alumni Scholarship.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Classie Jones Green and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Classie Jones Green's paternal grandfather, Johnny Foster, ca. 1950s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Classie Foster (Jones Green) (front row, 2nd from right) with her family; Lacey, Arkansas, 1952
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Classie Foster (Jones Green), Drew Elementary School picture, 1955-56
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Classie Jones Green's parents, Crawford and Evora Foster, ca. late 1950s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Classie Jones Green's father, Crawford Foster; Greenhill, Arkansas, ca. early 1960s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Classie Foster (Jones Green) in her Drew High School class photo (2nd row, 5th from right), 1964
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Classie Jones Green's mother, Evora Foster; Greenhill, Arkansas, ca. early 1970s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Classie Jones Green (1st row, 3rd from left) with the first graduating class of registered nurses at the School of Nursing, University of Arkansas at Monticello, 1972
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Classie Jones Green (center) in her role as University of Arkansas at Monticello campus nurse; Monticello, Arkansas, 1976
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Classie Jones Green's maternal grandfather, Wash Miller; Lacey, Arkansas, ca. late 1970s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Classie Jones Green (lower right) with (clockwise) her daughter, Bonita Rainey, and sons, Scott and Steven; Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1988
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Classie Jones Green with other Church Women United members; Pine Bluff, Arkansas, ca. early 2000s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Photo of the 2016-17 Jefferson County Democratic Women officers: (from left) Zelda Hoaglan, Yvonne Humphrey, Billie Minton, Classie Green, Lereatha Hamilton, Barbara Rhinehart, and Gypsy Tuck
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Classie Jones Green with (l-r) daughter, Bonita Jones Rainey; granddaughter, Adesha Armstrong; and great-granddaughter, Amerrah Arms; Mothers Day, May 14, 2023
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Classie Jones Green; Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 2024
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Classie Jones Green; Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 2024
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Classie Jones Green; Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 2024
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
