Her father, William Lafayette Gray, was a lawyer, merchant-farmer, and state representative from Laurens County.

The Grays were members of South Carolina's affluent class, devout Methodists, conservative Democrats, and contributors to the industrial development of their town.

While at Columbia University, Gray developed a progressive educational philosophy while studying under William Archibald Dunning and James Harvey Robinson.

The Greenwood community did not see education as a priority, so Gray transferred to a teaching position in English at the Martha Washington College in 1907 and 1908.

In 1974 she was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame, and the Columbia Rotary Club honored her with the Paul Harris Fellowship Award.