Gray, James, 1899-1984

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James Gray, B.A. (1920) University of Minnesota. Professor of English at the University of Minnesota and author of the University of Minnesota' centennial history.

James Gray was born in Minneapolis in 1899. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota’s School of Journalism in 1920 and was awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Literature, by Hamline University in 1939.

Gray joined the staff of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch in 1920. He resigned in 1946 to accept the position of literary editor with the Chicago Daily News . While in Chicago he also taught creative writing and English at the University of Chicago. In 1948 he returned to the University of Minnesota as a professor of English and was commissioned to write a history of the university as part of its centennial celebrations, The University of Minnesota, 1851-1951 (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press [1951]). Gray took a two-year leave of absence from the university starting in 1951 in order to research and write, Business without Boundary (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press [1954]), a history of General Mills. He left the university in 1954.

James Gray also wrote a history of the school of nursing, Education for Nursing (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press [1960]) as well as Open Wide the Door (New York, Putnam [1958]) which is a condensed history of the University of Minnesota published as part of a series on great American universities. Some of Gray’s other publications include a collection of critical essays, On Second Thought (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press [1946]), and Pine, Steam, and Prairie: Wisconsin and Minnesota in Profile (New York, Knopf, [1945]).

In 1964 the University of Minnesota awarded James Gray the Outstanding Achievement Award. James Gray died in Stamford, Connecticut on August 6, 1984 at the age of 85.

From the guide to the James Gray papers, 1869-1967, (University of Minnesota Libraries. University of Minnesota Archives [uarc])

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn University of Minnesota. School of Nursing. School of Nursing records, 1920-1994. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
referencedIn John Mason Brown papers, 1922-1967. Houghton Library
creatorOf Gray, James, 1899-. James Gray and family papers, 1862-1960. Minnesota Historical Society Library
creatorOf Gray, James, 1899-. James Gray papers, <194-?>-<196-?> University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
creatorOf James Gray papers, 1869-1967 University of Minnesota Libraries. University Archives [uarc]
creatorOf Gray, James, 1899-. Correspondence with Wanda Gág, 1940. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Derleth, August William, 1909-1971. August William Derleth papers, 1858, 1907-1978. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn School of Nursing records, 1920-1994 University of Minnesota Libraries. University Archives [uarc]
referencedIn Office of the Vice President for Academic Administration papers, 1932-1963 University of Minnesota Libraries. University Archives [uarc]
referencedIn Edwin Hopkins Ford papers, 1964 University of Minnesota Libraries. University Archives [uarc]
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Birth 1899-06-30

Death 1984-08-06

Americans

English

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