Taylor, Joe Gray.

Joe Gray Taylor was near Mason, Tennessee, on February 14, 1920. He married Helen Eva Friday and they raised three children, Joe Gray, Jr., Harriette Eva, and Edward Coleman. Taylor served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II, flying 70 bombing missions in the China-Burma-India theater.

Taylor received his bachelors degree from Memphis State College in 1947 and his masters and doctorate degrees from Louisiana State University in 1948 and 1951. He taught history at several Louisiana colleges until arriving at McNeese in 1963. Soon after he became head of the History Department in 1968 and dean of the College of Liberal Arts in 1983. Taylor published numerous articles and book reviews. He is the author of seven books, including Negro Slavery in Louisiana (1950), Louisiana Reconstructed, 1863-1877 (1974), Louisiana: A Bicentennial History (1976), and McNeese State University, 1939-1987: A Chronicle (1990). Taylor died December 8, 1987.