Legendary educator and Southeast Texan John Gray – twice president of Lamar University – will be the focus of a program to be presented Saturday, Jan. 19, at the 15th annual Beaumont History Conference.
The conference will be from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church, 6825 Gladys in Beaumont.
“Living a Legendary Life: Dr. John E. Gray” will be the topic for a double session beginning at 1:30 p.m. Presenters will be Ralph Wooster, distinguished professor emeritus of history, and Robert Robertson, adjunct instructor in history.
Also representing Lamar at the conference will be Beverly Williams, a graduate student from Silsbee, who will discuss “Eleanor Perlstein Weinbaum: Poet, Author and Benefactor for the Arts.” Her presentation will begin at 9 a.m.
Wooster, a historian with more than 50 years at Lamar and the author of eight books and more than 70 articles, will cover “John Gray: Educator, University President and Chairman of the Coordinating Board of Texas Colleges and Universities.”
Robertson, who wrote his master’s thesis on Wooster in 1965 and is the author of two books, will discuss “John Gray: Banker and Community Leader.”
Gray (1907-2002) was a major figure in 20th-century higher education. He served as president of Lamar from 1941 to 1951 and 1972 to 1977, having been called upon after retirement from Security National Bank to serve a second term as president. Gray also was a member of the Texas Commission on Higher Education and other state boards.
He was the first chairman of what is now the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and also served as president of the Association of Texas Colleges and Universities.
For decades, he was one of Southeast Texas’ most prominent and beloved citizens. He died March 20, 2002, three weeks after his 95th birthday. At his funeral, one eulogist called him “one of the most beloved people ever to walk the streets of this city.”
Williams is a Silsbee High School graduate who earned a bachelor of arts from Lamar with a double major in history and English. She will earn a master’s degree in history in May 2008. The life of Eleanor Weinbaum (1900-1997) involved traditional marriage and motherhood, a divorce that propelled her unconventionally into her father’s real estate business and a growing involvement in creative writing.
Her philanthropic interests encouraged writing at Lamar through funding of poetry contests, establishing a room for reading and study, endowing a scholarship and providing the funding for Pulse magazine, a Lamar publication that features poetry, short fiction and essays written by students.
Additional information on the Beaumont History Conference is available at the McFaddin-Ward House Museum, (409) 832-1906, which is also taking reservations. Monday, Jan. 14, is the deadline for the reservations – which are priced at $25 per person and include lunch.
Students at Lamar University and Lamar Institute of Technology may attend the conference without charge, but their participation does not include lunch, a museum spokesperson said.
