Local figure

Gordon Gray

Gray was installed as president of the University of North Carolina on October 12, 1950 and served until 1955. Under him the Chapel Hill health affairs division expanded and the four-year medical, dental and nursing schools opened, Black students were first admitted, and the university gained FM radio and educational television licenses at Chapel Hill.

Source: NCpedia: Gray, Gordon

1909–1982 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

20 works about Gordon Gray are indexed here.

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineThe Institute of Government’s building, 1935–19391935–1939 · 6 events · Albert Coates's first plan for an Institute of Government building collapsed when the Public Works Administration rescinded its grant in the summer of 1936. The University trustees had offered a site south of the Carolina Inn in 1935, and Coates had won extensions and let a contract, but the promised materials and cash never fully came through. With the campus site no longer available, he arranged to buy lots on the north side of Franklin Street facing Graham Memorial and borrowed to clear them in 1938. A gift from Will Reynolds paid for the land, gifts from Gordon and Bowman Gray covered half the building's cost, and Jefferson Standard Life lent the rest. The building opened in November 1939.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 18 dated events in the chronology →

1936 Bowman and Gordon Gray give the Chapel Hill Methodist church a pipe organ During A. P. Brantley's pastorate the church received a three-manual Moller pipe organ from donors who asked not to be named. They were later revealed as Bowman and Gordon Gray, university graduates of 1929 and 1930. People: Bowman Gray Jr., Gordon Gray Place: Chapel Hill Methodist Church, Chapel Hill · Also named: A. P. BrantleySearch the index · The Chapel Hill Methodist Church: A Centennial History, 1853-1953 (1954), scan p. 47
April 1938 The Bowman Gray Memorial Pool opens in the new Woollen Gymnasium The pool, named for the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company president Bowman Gray Sr., was presented with Woollen Gymnasium on March 25, 1938, but a watchman kept swimmers out until it was officially opened; the Chapel Hill Weekly expected students to begin using it about April 19. His widow and his sons Bowman Gray Jr. and Gordon Gray gave much of the university's share of the cost; a Public Works Administration grant paid the rest. People: Bowman Gray Jr., Gordon Gray Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Bowman Gray Sr. · Also mentions: Woollen GymnasiumSearch the index · UNC, Names in Brick and Stone: Bowman Gray Memorial Pool · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 25, 1938, p. 6; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 1, 1938, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 8, 1938, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 15, 1938, p. 1
Spring 1939 Construction begins on the Institute of Government building on Franklin Street A $10,000 gift from Will Reynolds, given after Congressman William Umstead won an IRS ruling that the Institute was a charity, paid for the land. Gifts from Gordon and Bowman Gray covered half of the $50,000 cost and Julian Price's Jefferson Standard Life lent the rest on Coates's signature, against more than half his salary, for a scaled-down Federal-style building of three floors over a raised basement. People: Albert Coates, Gordon Gray, William B. Umstead, Bowman Gray Jr. Place: Institute of Government building, East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Will Reynolds, Julian PriceSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 182 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, August 5, 1938, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 2, 1938, p. 4; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 2, 1938, p. 6; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 8, 1939, p. 5
1948–1951 William Friday serves as assistant dean of students at UNC in Chapel Hill After receiving his law degree from UNC in 1948, William Friday was assistant dean of students and later acting dean of students on the Chapel Hill campus until 1951, when he became assistant to Consolidated University president Gordon Gray. People: William C. Friday, Gordon Gray Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · UNC Libraries: Office of President of the University of North Carolina (System): William C. Friday Records, 1957-1986
February 6, 1950 University trustees elect Gordon Gray president Meeting in the Morehead Planetarium, the university's board of trustees unanimously elected Secretary of the Army Gordon Gray, a 1930 graduate, to succeed Frank Porter Graham as president of the consolidated university. The vote ended a search of more than ten months, and Gray accepted by telephone. Place: Morehead Planetarium, Chapel Hill · Also named: Frank Porter GrahamSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 9, 1950, p. 1
October 10, 1950 Gordon Gray is installed as president of the University of North Carolina Gray, who had been secretary of the army, was installed as president of the three-campus University of North Carolina on October 10, 1950 at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, the last day of a program that moved from Greensboro to Chapel Hill to Raleigh. The board of trustees had approved his selection on February 6, 1950. Place: Chapel HillIn the index: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · The Daily Tar Heel, October 11, 1950, p. 1 · Also: NCpedia: Gray, Gordon
April 24, 1951 UNC admits Edward O. Diggs, its first Black medical student UNC mailed Edward O. Diggs of Winston-Salem, a pre-medical student at A&T College in Greensboro, his letter of admission to the School of Medicine under the trustees' April 4, 1951 policy. He enrolled in the fall of 1951. People: W. Reece Berryhill, Gordon Gray, R. B. House Place: UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill · Also named: Edward O. DiggsThe Daily Tar Heel: A&T Student Becomes First To Enter UNC, April 25, 1951
May 22, 1951 Trustees make the campus heads chancellors and add a university vice-presidency On May 22, 1951, on President Gordon Gray's recommendation, the trustees made the controller a vice-president, created a second vice-presidency, and gave the heads of the branches the title of chancellor. Logan Wilson filled the new post that fall. People: Gordon Gray Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Logan WilsonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 154
September 19, 1952 The first lane of the new Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard opens The first lane of the new Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard was formally opened at noon on September 19, 1952, at the Durham-Orange county line, where the two towns' mayors and the presidents of UNC and Duke cut ribbons before Governor W. Kerr Scott, nominee William B. Umstead and highway officials, followed by a barbecue. The road cost about $1.1 million, with the grading and bridges built for a second lane to be paved when money allowed, and the Chapel Hill aldermen formally thanked the state for it the next week. People: Edwin Sidney Lanier, Gordon Gray, W. Kerr Scott, William B. Umstead Place: Durham-Orange county line, Durham-Chapel Hill BoulevardSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 25, 1952, p. 1
November 3, 1952 WUNC, the University's student-run FM station, goes on the air WUNC, a noncommercial FM station run entirely by students for the University of North Carolina, began broadcasting on November 3, 1952, at 91.5 megacycles with 1,450 watts. It offered news, music and drama from 7 to 10 each evening, and Chancellor Robert B. House called it a big stride toward President Gray's goals for the University. People: R. B. House, Gordon Gray Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: WUNCSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 13, 1952, p. 1 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, July 28, 1994, p. 3
November 1952 The Knapp Foundation pledges $500,000 toward a new building for the Institute of Government University President Gordon Gray secured a commitment from the foundation of the late Joseph Palmer Knapp for a $500,000 grant, to be matched by the same sum from the state, to build the Institute a new home. Coates had wanted the money as an endowment beside a state-built building, but Gray followed the matching plan that Margaret Knapp favored. People: Gordon Gray, Albert Coates Place: Institute of Government, Chapel Hill · Also named: Margaret Knapp, Joseph Palmer KnappSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 242
February 9, 1953 UNC trustees' executive committee approves semesters and Saturday classes at Chapel Hill Meeting in Raleigh on February 9, 1953, the executive committee of the University trustees voted 6 to 2, with one abstention, to put the Chapel Hill campus on a semester system with a six-day week, including Saturday classes, from September 1953. John W. Umstead Jr. of Chapel Hill and A. Hugh Harris voted no, and a faculty report favored semesters but objected to how the six-day week was ordered. People: Gordon Gray, John W. Umstead Jr. Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: A. Hugh HarrisSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 12, 1953, p. 6

Show all 18 dated events

May 1953 Edmund Strudwick's portrait of C. T. Council is given to the School of Pharmacy University President Gordon Gray presented a portrait of Durham's C. T. Council, painted by Edmund Strudwick of Hillsborough, to the UNC School of Pharmacy, where Dean E. A. Brecht accepted it at a luncheon in the Morehead building. People: Edmund Strudwick (1909-1973), Gordon Gray, E. A. (Edward Armond) Brecht, William D. Carmichael Jr., Edmund Strudwick Place: Morehead building, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: UNC School of PharmacySearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 15, 1953, p. 9
June 1, 1953 The Consolidated University applies for an educational television channel at Chapel Hill The university filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission for channel 4 at Chapel Hill, with studios planned at Chapel Hill, State College and Woman's College. University attorney Seymour Krieger said gifts and pledges would cover the estimated $1,100,000 to build the station and $240,000 for its first year. People: Gordon Gray Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Seymour KriegerSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 4, 1953, p. 1
September 30, 1953 The FCC grants the University a permit to build an educational television station on Channel 4 University officials learned that the Federal Communications Commission had granted the Consolidated University a construction permit for a non-commercial educational station on Channel 4, which the News called the first educational television station in North Carolina. Slightly more than a million dollars in private funds had been raised for equipment, studios at Chapel Hill, State College and Woman's College, and two years of telecasting, and President Gordon Gray named Robert F. Schenkkan director of television and Alan MacIntyre chief engineer. People: Gordon Gray Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: Robert F. Schenkkan, Alan MacIntyreSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 1, 1953, p. 1
July 1, 1954 Charles E. Rush retires as the university's director of libraries Rush retired as librarian on July 1, 1954, after thirteen years. Andrew H. Horn, associate librarian at the University of California at Los Angeles, was chosen to succeed him as director of libraries. People: Charles E. Rush, Andrew H. (Andrew Harlis) Horn, Gordon Gray, R. B. House Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · DigitalNC: Chapel Hill News Leader, May 31, 1954, page 8
March 1, 1956 William Friday becomes acting president of the Consolidated University Named acting president at 35 while the trustees searched for Gordon Gray's successor, Friday began his duties on March 1, 1956. The board approved him as president on October 26, 1956, and at his first news conference he named moving the administrative offices from South Building on the Chapel Hill campus to the old Institute of Government building on Franklin Street as a first goal. People: William C. Friday, Gordon Gray Place: South Building, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Institute of Government building, Franklin StreetSearch the index · UNC Libraries: Office of President of the University of North Carolina (System): William C. Friday Records, 1957-1986
October 12, 1975 UNC gives Distinguished Alumnus Awards to Gordon Gray, Shelby Foote, Guy and Guion Johnson and Frank Borden Hanes At the University Day convocation in Memorial Hall, marking 182 years since the Old East cornerstone, UNC gave Distinguished Alumnus Awards to former University president Gordon Gray, novelist and historian Shelby Foote, the Chapel Hill sociologists Guy B. and Guion G. Johnson, and author Frank Borden Hanes. History professor William S. Powell spoke on past University Days. People: Gordon Gray, Shelby Foote, Guy Benton Johnson, Guion Griffis Johnson, William S. Powell, N. Ferebee Taylor Place: Memorial Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Frank Borden HanesSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1975, p. 1

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Gordon Gray, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Bowman Gray Jr. 3 entries, including Bowman and Gordon Gray give the Chapel Hill Methodist church a pipe organ (1936)
R. B. House 3 entries, including UNC admits Edward O. Diggs, its first Black medical student (April 24, 1951)
Albert Coates 2 entries, including Construction begins on the Institute of Government building on Franklin Street (Spring 1939)
William B. Umstead 2 entries, including Construction begins on the Institute of Government building on Franklin Street (Spring 1939)
William C. Friday 2 entries, including William Friday serves as assistant dean of students at UNC in Chapel Hill (1948–1951)
Andrew H. (Andrew Harlis) Horn 1 entry: Charles E. Rush retires as the university's director of libraries (July 1, 1954)
Charles E. Rush 1 entry: Charles E. Rush retires as the university's director of libraries (July 1, 1954)
Edwin Sidney Lanier 1 entry: The first lane of the new Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard opens (September 19, 1952)
Guion Griffis Johnson 1 entry: UNC gives Distinguished Alumnus Awards to Gordon Gray, Shelby Foote, Guy and Guion Johnson and Frank Borden Hanes (October 12, 1975)
Guy Benton Johnson 1 entry: UNC gives Distinguished Alumnus Awards to Gordon Gray, Shelby Foote, Guy and Guion Johnson and Frank Borden Hanes (October 12, 1975)
John W. Umstead Jr. 1 entry: UNC trustees' executive committee approves semesters and Saturday classes at Chapel Hill (February 9, 1953)
N. Ferebee Taylor 1 entry: UNC gives Distinguished Alumnus Awards to Gordon Gray, Shelby Foote, Guy and Guion Johnson and Frank Borden Hanes (October 12, 1975)

Show 4 more

Shelby Foote 1 entry: UNC gives Distinguished Alumnus Awards to Gordon Gray, Shelby Foote, Guy and Guion Johnson and Frank Borden Hanes (October 12, 1975)
W. Kerr Scott 1 entry: The first lane of the new Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard opens (September 19, 1952)
W. Reece Berryhill 1 entry: UNC admits Edward O. Diggs, its first Black medical student (April 24, 1951)
William S. Powell 1 entry: UNC gives Distinguished Alumnus Awards to Gordon Gray, Shelby Foote, Guy and Guion Johnson and Frank Borden Hanes (October 12, 1975)

Indexed works

Works about or by Gordon Gray. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

The inauguration of Gordon Gray as president of the consolidated University of North Carolina.

1950

Commemorative volume for the October 1950 inauguration of Gordon Gray (1909-1982) as president of the consolidated University of North Carolina. It records three days of events, October 8 to 10: a sermon and convocation in Greensboro at the Woman's College, a second convocation on the Chapel Hill campus, and the closing ceremony in Raleigh at State College. Published by the university, 95 pages with illustrations in a large format.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Gray, Gordon, 1909-1982 -- Inauguration.

NC Cardinal CH Historical Society

John F. Kennedy at University Day, October 12, 1961

Morton, Hugh M. · 1961

Black-and-white 4 by 5 inch negative by Hugh Morton of President Kennedy at the podium in Kenan Stadium, 12 October 1961. Behind him are William Friday, Fred Weaver, John Caldwell, J. Carlyle Sitterson and Chancellor William Aycock; Frank Porter Graham and Gordon Gray are also identified.