A Closer Look at Richard Morris Hunt

Leslie Jones

Leslie B. Jones serves as the Director of Museum Affairs and Chief Curator for The Preservation Society of Newport County. She joined the Society in 2019 to oversee curatorial, conservation, collections management, site stewardship, exhibitions, interpretation and programmatic initiatives such as family programs and lectures. She directs the research fellows program, which annually hosts emerging scholars who focus a year of work on dedicated research opportunities.

Previously, Jones was the Vice President, Museum Affairs and Curator of Decorative Arts at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens, a 55-acre botanical garden, art museum and historic house in Nashville, Tennessee. Before joining Cheekwood, she was Curator and Director of Historical Resources and Programming for the White House Historical Association. Both roles included major preservation projects, including the revitalization of the White House Visitor Center (2014) and the restoration of Cheekwood’s circa-1930s domestic spaces (2017).

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Jones received her bachelor’s degree in the history of art and architecture from Miami University in Ohio, a master’s degree in the history of decorative arts from the Smithsonian Institution’s joint program with the Corcoran College of Art + Design, and another Master’s in the appraisal of fine and decorative art from New York University.