Who was Dorothy Peyton Gray?

Dorothy Peyton Gray (1943-2001) was a dynamic librarian whose 13-year career built our library into one of the largest transportation collections available anywhere.  Gray was born in Winterville, Mississippi.  She earned her BA in sociology from Southern Illinois University and her Master's degree in Library Science from Columbia University.  She moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s and worked as a legislative analyst in city government before joining our predecessor agency, the Southern California Rapid Transit District. 

At SCRTD, Gray greatly expanded the library and the collection of transit memorabilia.  She computerized the library catalog and made the Internet available to employees.  Under her guidance, the library became a federal repository for transportation manuscripts and documents.

When Metro's Gateway Headquarters building opened in 1995, Gray oversaw the development of a modern corporate library that is now recognized as one of the best transportation research resources in the industry – a library that fields information requests from all over the world.  Under Dorothy's leadership, we became one of the few corporate libraries that can make catalog entries directly into the Library of Congress.

In 1998, the Library was threatened with closure as a budget-cutting item.  The idea was killed after vociferous protests from the Federal government and others in the transportation and local community.  However, the ordeal sapped Dorothy's strength, as she was fighting a debilitating lung disease.

Five days after she passed away, the Metro Board of Directors, by unanimous vote, named the library after her in recognition of her incredible accomplishments.  It was only the second time the Board has ever elected to name an agency facility after an employee.

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