Generations of students have gathered in the Gray Building to attend classes, visit faculty office hours, and study in the Divinity Library. On a December evening, Duke Divinity School hosted a small ceremony to honor James A. Gray, whose legacy of generosity continues to shape the experience of theological and religious education at Duke.
James Alexander Gray (1846–1918) was a graduate of Trinity College. He also became a trustee and supported it financially during a key moment in its history. In gratitude, when what is now Duke’s West Campus opened in 1930, Duke President William Few named a building just a few steps from Duke Chapel in his honor.
While a photograph of Gray and a small plaque have hung outside the Divinity Library for years, Gray’s great-grandson, Jim Gray of Durham, provided a recent upgrade with its own history.
James A. Gray had many accomplishments in his life, including co-founding Wachovia National Bank in 1879. A portrait of him hung in its Winston-Salem headquarters for decades, through his son James Jr.’s stewarding of the company and its acquisition of other banks. After Wachovia itself was acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008, Jim Gray eventually came into possession of the portrait. After doing research about his great-grandfather’s life, he knew its best next home would be in the Gray Building.
“He was a deeply religious man,” Jim Gray said. “He and his son, James Jr., never missed a Sunday at Centenary United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem. He also believed deeply in education—Duke education and public education.”
Dan Struble, associate dean of external relations, said the Divinity School is pleased to have a portrait of James Alexander Gray hanging in the Gray Building. “It is a reminder of one of the earliest chapters of Duke’s history,” Struble said. “James Alexander Gray helped keep Trinity College afloat with his financial acumen and philanthropy. We are thankful for his long-ago generosity, and to Jim Gray for ensuring him a place of honor.”
James Alexander Gray was born in Randolph County, N.C. After an older brother was killed during the Battle of Gettysburg, he enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1864, was captured at Fort Fisher in 1865, and sent as a prisoner of war to Elmira, N.Y. “Luckily for him, the war was about to end,” Jim Gray said. “There was a prisoner exchange, and he was allowed to go back home. And out of that trauma came this highly successful man.”
Among Gray’s other accomplishments was helping to found the public school system in Winston-Salem. In 1939, South High School was renamed James A. Gray High School in his honor. It later became part of the campus of the North Carolina School of the Arts.
Gray also supported the University of North Carolina, and his descendants have continued that support. James Jr. served as a trustee, endowed a chair in its religious studies department, and apparently was a big fan of the Tar Heel football team. In 1950, when he endowed a lecture series at Duke Divinity School, he stipulated that the money could not go to Duke’s football program.
Over the years, the Gray Lecture Series has brought notable scholars and ministry practitioners to the Duke campus, including John Swinton, professor in practical theology and pastoral care at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland); Peter Storey, former president of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa and the South African Council of Churches; and critically acclaimed artist and author Makoto Fujimura.
Among the guests at James Alexander Gray’s official portrait welcome was his 14-year-old descendant and namesake, whom Jim Gray called “young James” for clarification. Jim Gray said he wanted his grandson to see and know about the Gray family’s deep ties to education in North Carolina. “I want him [young James] to know who his great-great-great grandfather was, and what he stood for, and about Duke as well as Carolina,” Jim Gray said. “Part of his heritage is with both schools.”