Gray, Grace W.
Gray papers,
1941-2001
Manuscript Collection: MS 0772
5
boxes
Agency History/Biographical note:
Grace Warner Gray was born November 20, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois to
William Scott Gray, a professor at the University of Chicago, and
Beatrice Warner Jardine Gray. She attended the University of Chicago
High School from 1937-1941. She entered Mount Holyoke College in
1941 and in 1945 received her B.A. in zoology. Gray worked as a
junior pharmacologist for two years at the William S. Merrell Company
until she entered the University of Michigan in 1947. She earned her
Ph.D. in pharmacology in 1951 and worked as a research scientist from
1951-1953 at Bristol Laboratories, Inc. From 1954-1959 she taught
pharmacology at Marquette University School of Medicine in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. She attended Marquette University Medical School from
1954-1959. In 1963-1964 she was a postdoctoral trainee at the
University of Tennessee Medical Units studying lipid metabolism. In
1965 Gray worked at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania as an
assistant professor of pharmacology. She became a professor at the
College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota in
1968. After retiring in 1986, she became an avid Elderhosteler and
member of civic and conservation organizations. She died on May 21,
2001 at the age of seventy-six in Shoreview, Minnesota.
Scope and Content:
The Grace W. Gray papers consist of correspondence, course records,
writings, memorabilia, biographical information, and a photograph.
The materials in this collection relate chiefly to Gray's years as a
student at Mount Holyoke College, 1941-1945. In letters to her
family she discusses her studies (particularly in zoology)
classmates, social activities, faculty, visiting lecturers, horseback
riding, parties, dances, food, her jobs on campus, and College
traditions such as Mountain Day, Faculty Show, Founder's Day,
freshman hazing, and Junior Show. She mentions College President
Roswell Gray Ham and professors Elizabeth M. Boyd, Leonora Branch,
Ann Haven Morgan, Christianna Smith, Kathryn F. Stein and others.
She also refers to motion pictures that she has seen and to political
issues, such as the campaign for U.S. president in 1944. Many
letters reflect the impact of World War II on the College. She
mentions air raid drills, rationing, blackouts, blood drives, members
of the U.S. Naval Reserve Women's Reserve (WAVES) training on campus,
farm work and a war stamp drive. Course records are for zoology and
English classes and a physical education class. Materials include
notebooks, an annotated laboratory manual, a project, papers
(including one about canoeing), examinations, and microscope slides
that she prepared for histology courses. Writings in this collection
consists of published articles by Gray dating from 1954-1975 which
chiefly concern her scientific research on the effect of various
drugs on intestinal muscle. Memorabilia, 1941-1945, consists of
correspondence from College administrators to her parents concerning
her course work, correspondence about her awards, and a receipt for
her enrollment fee. Biographical information consists of two
clippings about her from 1945 and an obituary dated 2001. The
photograph is her Mount Holyoke senior portrait taken in 1945.
Cite as: Grace W. Gray Papers, Mount Holyoke College,
Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley,
MA.
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted.
Series List:
- Correspondence
, 1941-1945
, 10 linear inches
- Photograph
, 1945
, 1 folder
- Course Records
, 1941-1945
, 1.6 linear feet
- Writings
, 1954-1974
, 1 folder
- Memorabilia
, 1941-1945
, 1 folder
- Biographical Information
, 1945, 2001
, 1 folder
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