The Nedra Wilhem Jones Scholarship provides scholarships for female graduating seniors from Point Pleasant High School who are pursuing a bachelor's level degree in education or political science. At the age of 13, Nedra was the youngest high school student in the history of WV to win the State High School Select Oration Contest which offered a four-year scholarship to college. She developed her oratorical and political skills during her college years graduating from Goucher College as the President of the Agora (Debating Society). Ms. Jones gained notability in politics during a time when few women were active in this arena. At the 1932 Republican National Convention at the age of 21 she gained national publicity for her remarks from the podium as the youngest delegate in attendance. A columnist wrote, “Nedra is one of the most prominent persons in attendance at the National Republican Convention this week in Chicago. She is being rated as a youthful political prodigy and is pictured with the convention notable in all the metropolitan newspapers in the country.” Later that summer she addressed 3,000 delegates at the State G.O.P. Convention in Wheeling where she was appointed assistant Secretary of the Convention. A reporter from the Herald-Dispatch wrote, “Nedra Wilhelm of Point Pleasant will be heard from politically. She personifies the wholesomeness, the intelligence and the ability of the young woman in politics. Grace and charm marked her platform performance and proved politics is robbing women of none of their femininity.”
During her lifetime Nedra was president of the local chapters of the American Association of University Women and the Women’s Club; District President of the WV Federation of Women’s Clubs; served for almost a decade on the Holzer Hospital Foundation Board; and was active in the D.A.R. She was also a life long member of Christ Episcopal Church in Point Pleasant. “My family created this scholarship as a tribute to our mother. She had a tremendous impact on us and the lives of so many others. By creating a permanent scholarship fund in her name, she will be able to continue to have an impact on the lives of young woman for many generations to come, “commented Sandy Dunn, Nedra’s daughter.