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Collection on Harold Gray

 Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: MSA 255

Scope and Contents

Nine Christmas cards created by Gray, newspaper clippings, cartoons from Debris yearbook created by Gray, one printing plate used for a Debris yearbook page created by Gray.

Dates

  • Creation: 1913 - 1950s
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1913 - 1928

Creator

Access Information

Collection is open for research.

Copyright and Use Information

Portions of material in this collection are in the public domain. Other material copyrights held by Purdue University or original creator. Consult with Purdue University Archives and Special Collections prior to reproduction of materials.

Biographical Information

Harold Lincoln Gray was born near Kankakee, Illinois on January 20, 1894 to Ira Lincoln Gray, a farmer, and Estella M. Rosencrans. As a child, his family moved to a farm near West Lafayette, Indiana. Gray graduated from West Lafayette High School in 1912. After graduation he entered Purdue University. During college he worked for the Lafayette Morning Journal creating cartoons and selling advertising. During his senior year at Purdue, Gray was the art editor of the Debris yearbook and drew politcal cartoons for it as well as for the Exponent newspaper. Gray graduated from Purdue in 1917 with a B. S. He enlisted during World War I and became a bayonet instructor reaching the rank of second lieutenant. After the war he obtained a job at the Chicago Tribune. He left the Tribune in 1921 to work for Sidney Smigh on the comic The Gumps. He began writing his cartoon, Little Orphan Annie, on August 5, 1924 for the New York Daily News. Gray married Doris C. Platt on Oct. 22, 1921; she died in 1925. On July 17, 1929, he married Winifred Frost, who helped him with his work. Gray passed away on May 10, 1968 in La Jolla, California.

Extent

1.215 Cubic Feet (One flat box)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement Note

Items are arranged by type, and then chronologically within the box.

Acquisition Information

Nine Christmas cards donated by Elinore Morey Dunlap, October 1979. Other items from Purdue Debris yearbooks.

Processing Information

All materials have been rehoused in acid-free folders and an acid-free box.

Title
Collection on Harold Gray
Status
Completed
Author
Keertana Marella and Mallory Wells
Date
2024-02-09
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English
Edition statement
Third Edition. Collection description was first completed 2020-04-22.

Revision Statements

  • 2020-04-22: Collection description updated by Keertana Marella
  • 2024-02-09: Collection description updated by Mallory Wells

Repository Details

Part of the Purdue University Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
504 Mitch Daniels Boulevard
West Lafayette Indiana 47907 United States
765-494-2839