Lewis Cecil Gray (December 2, 1881 — November 18, 1952)American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 1953-02, Volume 35 (1), page 157 was an American agricultural economist. A prolific author of economic texts, his career included several academic posts and various federal government roles. His monumental History of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860 is considered a major contribution to economic history and agricultural economics.News Notes and Comments. (1952). Agricultural History, 26(4), page 165. Gray held key positions in New Deal programs designed to alleviate land use problems arising from the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.
Early life Gray was born in Liberty, Missouri, son of Lewis Pressley Gray and Hannah Elizabeth Chambliss.Certificate of Death (#28389), North Carolina State Board of Health, December 8, 1952photo, www.findagrave.com He completed his undergraduate studies at William Jewell College in 1900. He worked as a secondary school principal prior to his graduate work at University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied under R.T Ely, H.C. Taylor, and J.R. Commons. His Ph.D. in agricultural economics was awarded in 1911.
Academic career Gray held several teaching positions in colleges and universities. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree, he taught economics and history at Oklahoma A&M. After earning his doctorate, he took a faculty position at University of Saskatchewan, where a scholarship prize in Gray's honor is still given.see Lewis C. Gray Prize in Economics (studyincanada.com) In 1915, he relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where he joined the faculty of George Peabody College for Teachers (later subsumed by Vanderbilt University).
History of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860 Gray's first major monograph was Introduction to agricultural economics,Cornell University Library Digital Collections published in 1924. He followed that, in 1933, with History of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860, which is considered "a permanent contribution to economic history, agricultural economics, technical agriculture and to the general social and political history of the South."Review in Nature 132, 838 (1933) Gray began research for this monumental work in 1908 when he entered graduate school, and it was released in two volumes totaling over 1000 pages. Esther Katherine Thompson is credited as the assistant to the author. Cornell University has made the work available in its digital library.Cornell University Library Digital Collections
Service in U.S. Department of Agriculture Gray held several positions within the United States Department of Agriculture. In 1919, he assumed leadership of the Division of Land Economics, which was established that year.United States. Bureau of Agricultural Economics. (1931). The Division of land economics: an outline of the organization, activities, and publications of this division. rev. Washington. In this influential position, he oversaw various land utilization programs, and he was a leader in developing plans to retire submarginal agricultural land in order to support farm prices.
During the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, Gray took on an additional position as Chief of the Land Policy Section in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. After transferring to the Resettlement Administration, Gray was the principal author of Future of the Great Plains,The Future of the Great Plains, United States. Great Plains Committee, 1936 Worster, Donald, "THE DIRTY THIRTIES A STUDY IN AGRICULTURAL CAPITALISM" (1986). Great Plains Quarterly. 974. the comprehensive 1936 report of the Great Plains Committee.Worster, Donald. Dust Bowl: The southern plains in the 1930's (p.189). Oxford University Press. Gray assumed chairmanship of the committee, succeeding Rexford Tugwell in that position.Worster, page 193 He was subsequently Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics.
Later life Gray retired due to disability in 1941 following a cerebral hemorrhage.Worster, page 189 He died in Raleigh, North Carolina, on November 18, 1952. News of his death was reported in academic journals, including Agricultural History and American journal of agricultural economics.
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