The 33rd annual convention of Lions Clubs International was held in Chicago in July 1950. The convention was anticipated to be a major showcase to reveal to attending delegates the progress of a new city being built for Lionism. Instead, Melvin Jones was removed from his position as Secretary General of LCI and replaced by his second-in-command, R. Roy Keaton, who with a new title of Director General, took charge of day-to-day operations of LCI. In the meantime, Jones announced his retirement and the Association afforded him his title for life.
In an attempt to solidify his legacy with the association, Melvin Jones prepared an 11-page document sometime in 1951 of his version of the founding of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS CLUBS. When Dr. Woods was able to obtain a copy of it, he felt compelled to issue his 36-page affidavit in 1952 to repudiate Jones’ claims.
The following analysis of the two documents has been carefully scrutinized along with related findings from other documents and newspaper accounts. As the author of this analysis, I make no apologies for what I have determined to be overwhelming evidence to reveal that he claims of Melvin Jones are fraudulent and otherwise without merit. Nevertheless, I strongly urge the reader to submit feedback on any issue of disagreement after reading both documents, and feel free to form your own conclusions. Both documents can be accessed through given links.
Please note the numerous wordings placed in between sentences and margins of Melvin Jones’ papers. That was Dr. Woods expressing his opposition to many of the statements made. He wrote “No” many times to indicate disagreement.
Response to Melvin Jones’ Statement
In the following statements, references for “Jones” is for Melvin Jones’ 11 page statement on the founding of LCI. References for “Woods” is for Dr. Woods’ subsequent 36-page affidavit.
LIE #1
(Jones, page 2 of 11) …”June 7th, 1917. The purpose of the meeting was to form an international organization.”
THE TRUTH
There is no evidence that any such meeting ever took place in Chicago on that date. The international organization referenced above had already been formed by Dr. Woods—the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS CLUBS, filed with the Secretary of the State of Indiana at Indianapolis, October 25, 1916 (see Exhibit “A” of THE FORGOTTEN FOUNDER).
LIE #2
(Jones, page 2 of 11) “He (Woods) was one of the men with whom I had been in contact in 1916.”
THE TRUTH
(Woods, pages 16 and 17 of 36): It was the summer of 1917 between the time Dr. Woods mailed out his invitations to his clubs to attend the Dallas Convention and the convention itself of October 8-10, 1917 that the two men first met. Melvin Jones journeyed to Evansville, Indiana to meet Dr. Woods to learn more about Woods’ Lions organization and to become part of it.
LIE #3
(Jones, page 2 of 11) “Prior to the meeting (June 7, 1917) discussions were had with Dr. W.P. Woods regarding the new organization that might be formed acquiring his rights in the said corporation above mentioned.”
THE TRUTH
This statement is at the heart of the erroneous claim that is the centerpiece of LCI history today, giving Melvin Jones credit for the founding of the “new” LCI of June 7, 1919 based on the false premise that Dr. Woods turned over all claims and title of the ‘Lion’ name of the “old” organization of Indiana to Mr. Jones, a man he hadn’t even yet met. It was at the Dallas Convention that Dr. Woods did turn his Lions organizational holdings over to the delegates knowing that is was in good hands to move forward and succeed with his blessings.
LIE #4
(Jones, page 2 of 11) “We already favored the Lion name and hoped that the organization to be formed would agree to this name.”
THE TRUTH
The ‘Lion’ name had already been established by Dr. Woods in 1911 with his ROYAL ORDER OF LIONS. With a different charter, Dr. Woods also used the ‘Lion’ name for his founding of our present day LCI of 1916.
LIE #5
(Jones, page 4 of 11) “The Board of Directors was advised that the organization formed could use the name, ‘International Association of Lions Clubs.’”
THE TRUTH
Only Dr. Woods could allow such permission, and he did not. To repeat, Dr. Woods formed the above Association in 1916 and it was NOT re-formed by Melvin Jones on June 7, 1917.
LIE #6
(Jones, page 4 of 11) “Also during this recess, the President of Dallas Lions Club was contacted by long distance phone and his agreement obtained that, with our cooperation, the clubs affiliated with this new organization would hold a convention in the first or second week of October 1917, with the Dallas Lions Club as host club.”
THE TRUTH
(Woods, page 18 of 36) Dr. Woods explained to Melvin Jones when the latter came to Evansville, Indiana that he had mailed out 33 invitations to his clubs in the Southwest to attend the Dallas Conventions set for October 8-10, 1917. Proof: THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS (Aug. 11, 1917): “LIONS CLUBS TO MEET IN DALLAS OCT. 8-10. A letter announcing that Dallas had been selected for the first national convention of Lions Clubs to be held Oct. 8, 9, and 10, was read at the weekly luncheon of the local club yesterday at the Adolphus Hotel. The letter was from W.P. Woods of the international committee.” A similar letter received the same day was presorted by the FORT WORTH [TEXAS] STAR-TELEGRAM, “LIONS CONVENTION WILL BE AT DALLAS.”
LIE #7
(Jones, page 4 of 11) …”with the authority of the motion voted by the Business Circle members previously at the luncheon, voted to change their name to the Lions Club of Chicago.”
THE TRUTH
(Woods, page 18 of 36) To make it possible for Melvin Jones to be a delegate to the upcoming convention in Dallas, he needed a charter for his ‘Business Circle’ club to become the Chicago Lions Club. This was done by Dr. Woods, and the charter was sent from Evansville to Chicago. For the record, the charter was dated August 2, 1917.
LIE #8
(Jones, page 6 of 11) “The home office of the association shall be the city of the Secretary-Treasurer.”
THE TRUTH
As reported by the DALLAS MORNING NEWS (Oct. 10, 1917) on the last day of the convention: “A motion that the home office of the club shall be at the home of the president was adopted.”
LIE #9
(Jones, page 6 of 11) “The delegates proceeded to elect Officers and Directors, and elected L.F. Lewis as President.” (note: Jones was actually referring to L.H. Lewis).
THE TRUTH
From the October 10, 1917 issue of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS: “L.H. Lewis, president of the Dallas club, who was nominated for the presidency, declined to permit his name to go before the convention, and nominated Dr. Woods. The latter was elected by acclamation. Mr. Lewis was elected first vice-president.”
In an attempt to elevate himself of some importance, Melvin Jones created this hoax, writing that Dr. Woods had indicated he would like to be president of the new organization. Jones proceeds to contest that Dr. Woods does not meet the qualifications since there is no Lions Club in Evansville, Indiana. Only by withdrawing from the meeting with Dr. Woods and Mr. Lewis a way was found to “qualify” Dr. Woods as President. The was one of a number of instances over the years in which Melvin Jones attempted to deprive Dr. Woods of any recognition within the Lions organization.
LIE #10
(Jones, page 8 of 11)
ADDENDA: Melvin Jones indicates that the record should be “corrected” or “clarified” so that there would be no “misunderstandings”: “Any club in existence, or organized, prior to the meeting of representatives held in Chicago on June 7, 1917, when the Association was formed, could not have been or have become a member club of the Association before it had been formed.”
THE TRUTH
Melvin Jones continues to press forward with his falsified founding of the Association on June 7, 1917 and attempts to delegitimize the chartering of Lions Clubs by Dr. Woods prior to that date. A number of Lions Clubs were operating in 1916 and 1917 and one in 1915 (San Antonio) are recognized today by LCI as FOUNDER CLUBS, having been chartered before the Dallas Convention of 1917.
LIE #11
(Jones, page 8 of 11)
ADDENDA: “The Lions Club of Chicago (formerly the Business Circle) is known as the mother club of the association because it initiated the meeting held on June 7, 1917 at Chicago, Illinois, at which meeting the Association was formed.”
THE TRUTH
Known today as the ‘Chicago Central Lions Club’, its website was until the last couple of years seen on the Internet. No longer …it just disappeared. But when it was available, it was filled with multiple falsified statements. It credited the founding of the ‘Business Circle’ in 1907 by a group of business men, including Melvin Jones. Jones, even by his own admission, joined by invitation in 1913. The website had also shown the date of ‘March 1917’ for when the club changed its name to the Chicago Lions Club. The world of Lionism is in no ways aware of the ‘Mother Club’ title. And while Chicago Central is, in fact, a FOUNDER club with its charter dated AUGUST 2, 1917, it makes no such claim. To do so would acknowledge that Dr. Woods’ signature would be applied to the charter.
LIE #12
(Jones, Page 10 of 11)
This page is filled with multiple claims by Melvin Jones that he himself with the “founder” of the Association.
THE TRUTH
It was about 1919 when Melvin Jones embarked on his quest to gain recognition as founder. His assertion was that since 1917 his reputation as such “spread throughout the United States and various countries of the world.” Newspapers of the 1920s, when referencing Melvin Jones, only recognized him as ‘Secretary Treasurer’ and later ‘Secretary General’ of the Association. But by the 1930s, newspapers began to add “founder” to his title. It must be noted that Lions Clubs International decided to officially designate Jones as “founder” in 1958, three years before he died.