Wood Gray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.[1] He was a consultant for the United States Information Agency working on histories and motion pictures for overseas distribution.[1] He gave talks at the Foreign Service Institute and Industrial College.[1] The George Washington University Libraries have a collection of his papers.[1]
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.[1]
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.[1]
In 1965 he was a member of NASA's historical advisory committee.[2]
He wrote about the Copperheads of the American Civil War era who he described as peace at any price Democrats.[3]
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[4] (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.[5]