Her father, who was a gunsmith by trade, was born in North Carolina and was one of the first African American graduates of Oberlin College.

[7][8] Sophia B. Jones began her medical education at the University of Toronto, but she found its options for women wanting to study medicine limiting.

[11] After her time at Spelman, Jones worked at Wilberforce University, and practiced medicine in St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Kansas City.

"[14] Late in life, Jones retired with her sister Anna to Monrovia, California, where they ran an orange grove.

[16] The University of Michigan Medical School offers a lectureship in infectious diseases named for Sophia B. Jones.