Wood Gray (March 19, 1905 - June 27, 1977) was a history professor at George Washington University, public speaker, and writer. He specialized in American social history and the history of the American Civil War. He was a consultant for the United States Information Agency working on histories and motion pictures for overseas distribution. He gave talks at the Foreign Service Institute and Industrial College. The George Washington University Libraries have a collection of his papers.
He was born in Petersburg, Illinois, and graduated from Petersburg Harris High School as valedictorian and captain of the track team. He received a B.A. from the University of Illinois in 1927 and an M.A. in 1928. A student manager for the school's football team, he recounted taping Red Grange's ankles before the game against Michigan in which Grange scored five touchdowns. Gray earned a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1933.
He began teaching history at George Washington University in 1934 and became department chair in 1937. He served in the Army Air Corps as a Special Staff Lt. Colonel from 1943 until 1946.
In 1965 he was a member of NASA's historical advisory committee.
He wrote about the Copperheads of the American Civil War era who he described as peace at any price Democrats.
Personal life
He married Dorothea Leal Gray (died 1978) on August 13, 1927. He died in Washington, D.C.
Bibliography
- Historian's Handbook: A Key to the Study and Writing of History (1951) a textbook
- The Hidden Civil War: The Story of the Copperheads (1942)
- Essays in American Historiography, co-authored with Marcus W. Jernegan of (1937)
- The George Washington Key to Historical Research (1956) with William Columbus Davis et al.
References
- ^ "Collection: Wood Gray papers | GW Libraries Archival Collection Guides".
- Administration, United States National Aeronautics and Space (1965). "Semiannual Report to the Congress: Message from the President of the United States Transmitting the Report". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
- Rawley, James A. (June 8, 1977). Lincoln and Civil War Politics. R. E. Krieger Publishing Company. ISBN 9780882755762 – via Google Books.
- Gray, Wood (June 8, 1959). "Historian's Handbook: A Key to the Study and Writing of History". Houghton Mifflin – via Google Books.
- Office, Library of Congress Copyright (June 8, 1957). "Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1956". Copyright Office, Library of Congress – via Google Books.