The Society was founded in 1991 at Lincoln Trail College, Robinson, Illinois.
[1] The Society's best known award is the Annual James Jones First Novel Fellowship, co-sponsored by Wilkes University.
It was established in 1992, and as of 2025 is a $12,000 prize, and two $1,000 runner up awards, awarded to American authors of first novels in progress that honor "the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination, and insight into modern culture" that Jones's works exemplified.
[43][44] Since 2007, the Society has been working to establish the James Jones Chair in World War II Studies at Eastern Illinois University.
[45][46] The Society sponsors an annual Valentine Essay Contest, based on Jones's short story, "The Valentine", for high school seniors from Crawford County, Illinois and Clark County, Illinois.