Elizabeth Janet Gray

Writer

• Born: October 6, 1902
• Birthplace: Germantown, Pennsylvannia
• Died: November 27, 1999
• Place of death: Longwood, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Biography

Elizabeth Janet Gray was born on October 6, 1902, in Germantown, Pennsylvania, to Scotland-native John Gordon Gray and Anne Moore Iszard Gray, who belonged to the Society of Friends. During her childhood, Gray read books, listened to her parents discuss family history, and hoped to become a writer. Gray attended Germantown Friends School and published a short story in Young Churchman. After enrolling at Bryn Mawr College when she was sixteen, Gray earned a B.A. in arts in 1923. She briefly taught school at an Asbury Park, New Jersey, high school.

By 1926, Gray had completed a B.A. in library science from the Drexel Institute (now Drexel University) and started work as a cataloger at the University of North Carolina’s library. On January 31, 1929, Gray married Morgan Fisher Vining, an extension division associate director at the University of North Carolina. She taught summer library classes in 1929 and 1930 at that university. In October of 1933, after surviving a car wreck that killed her husband, Gray moved into her mother and older sister’s Germantown home to heal, and there she renewed her ties to Quaker activities.

Gray served on the staff of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) during World War II. The AFSC’s Dr. George D. Stoddard recommended her as a tutor to Japan’s Crown Prince Akihito, and she served in that capacity from 1946 until 1950. Crown Prince Akihito traveled to Philadelphia in 1953 to see Gray, and she attended his wedding in Japan. As emperor, he continued communications with her. He celebrated Gray’s literary achievements and ordered Japanese ambassadors to represent him at functions honoring her, and Japan presented Gray with the Third Order of the Sacred Crown. Between 1952 and 1971, Gray served on Bryn Mawr College’s board of trustees as its vice president.

Gray began her literary career with the publication of Meredith’s Ann in 1929. Her debut novel established a literary relationship with editor May Massee. Gray researched historical figures at the University of North Carolina and Pennsylvania Historical Society and visited historical sites in England. She based several of her stories on her parents’ heritage and set them in places she had lived. A versatile writer, Gray also wrote biographies, short stories, and nonfiction for children and adults. Gray’s best-selling memoir, Windows for the Crown Prince, described her interactions with the Japanese royal family. She also illustrated several of her books, including Skeletons: An Inside Look at Animals. Gray died on November 27, 1999, at Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Critics praised Gray’s ability to realistically and appealingly present history. The American Library Association selected three of Gray’s children’s books as Newbery Honor books: Meggy MacIntosh in 1931; Young Walter Scott in 1936; and Penn in 1939. Gray’s novel Adam of the Road won the 1943 Newbery Medal. Two years later, her book Sandy received The Herald Tribune Spring Festival Award. The Women’s National Book Association presented Gray with the Constance Lindsay Skinner Award in 1954. Gray’s book Take Heed of Loving Me won the 1964 Philadelphia Athenaeum Literary Award. In 1990, the Free Library of Philadelphia gave Gray its Lifetime Achievement Award.