Because the papers include Confidential Health Information (CHI) as defined by Columbia University policies governing data security and privacy, access is allowed only under the terms of Archives and Special Collections’ Access Policy to Records Containing Confidential Health Information.
The papers document Wray's professional life with the Rockefeller Foundation in Turkey, Colombia and Thailand; his later academic work at Harvard and Columbia; and consulting work done for organizations such as Save the Children and UNICEF/WHO.
History and Biography
Joe D. Wray was a significant figure in 20th century public health in the developing world. During his career he created community health training programs for medical students; explored and documented the connections between malnutrition, infectious disease and childhood mortality; invented a simple graphic method for diagnosing and measuring malnutrition in children; documented the relationship between family size and maternal and child health; promoted the affordability of nutrition interventions in the context of primary health care; and contributed to a UNICEF/WHO conference on infant feeding that helped promote breast-feeding as a means of preventing childhood mortality in developing nations.
Wray was born in Conway, Arkansas on September 30, 1926, though he moved with his family to San Luis Obispo, California, in 1936. He attended Stanford University for both his undergraduate and medical education, receiving his BA in 1947 and his MD in 1952. After early work at the Charity Hospital in New Orleans, the United States Air Force, and the Yale University Department of Pediatrics, Wray joined the field staff of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1956. His served as Chief Resident at Haceteppe Hospital, in Ankara, Turkey, from 1956-58 and then Associate Pediatrician from 1959-61. In 1961 Wray left Turkey and became a Visiting Professor of Pediatrics and Attending Physician at the Hospital Universitario and the Pilot Rural Health Center of the Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia.
After five years in Colombia, Wray took a one year sabbatical in 1966-67 and earned a Masters in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1967 he returned to the field to teach pediatrics and community medicine as a Visiting Professor of Pediatrics at Ramathibodi Hospital Medical School of Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand. Wray remained in Thailand until 1974, when he left to be a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. In 1975 Wray went to Harvard University, where he served as Head of the Department of Population Science and Director of the Office of International Health and taught international and maternal and child health.
In 1981 Wray joined his long-time friend and colleague Allan Rosenfield at the Columbia University School of Public Health, serving as the Deputy Director of the Center for Population and Family Health, and as a Professor of Clinical Public Health. He was also briefly associated with the College of Physicians and Surgeons Department of Pediatrics. In 1983 Wray was awarded a Dr. Med. (honoris causa) from Haceteppe University in Ankara, Turkey. He retired in 1991.
In addition to his academic work, Wray acted as a consultant to numerous U.S. government agencies, international organizations, foundations and private voluntary organizations. He traveled extensively, visiting Brazil, Guatemala, Nigeria, Zaire, Haiti, Nigeria, Mexico, the Sudan, West Africa, Romania, Egypt, Iraq, Ethiopia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, India, Tibet, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia (Kalimantan and Java), Papua New Guinea, and Vietnam. Notably, he was the sole physician invited by the National Research Council’s Committee on Scholarly Exchange with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to be part of an early childhood development delegation to the PRC in 1973.
Wray died on March 9, 2006, in Medford, New Jersey, and was survived by his wife, Beth, their five children, and eight grand-children.
Organization
The papers are organized into nine series, as follows:
I. Biographical information
II. Rockefeller reports and diaries
III. Correspondence, Alphabetical
IV. Correspondence, Chronological - 1
V. Correspondence, Chronological - 2
VI. Research materials
VII. Nestlé boycott and breastfeeding controversy
VIII. Other Special projects
IX. Publications
The papers document Wray’s professional life with the Rockefeller Foundation in Turkey, Colombia and Thailand; his later academic work at Harvard and Columbia; and consulting work done for organizations such as Save the Children and UNICEF/WHO. The primary focus of the materials is pediatric nutrition and related public health concerns in developing nations; other notable topics include porphoryia turcica, a chemically-induced skin disease Wray encountered and studied during his time in Turkey; the boycott of Nestlé and other manufacturers of infant formula in the 1970s led by a variety of church groups, including the Southern California Interfaith Hunger Coalition, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, the National Council of Churches, and the Infant Formula Action Coalition (INFACT) and related breastfeeding controversy; and Wray’s trips to China and Tibet between 1973 and 1993.
The bulk of the collection is comprised of three sets of overlapping correspondence. These were arranged as closely as possible to the order in which they were found, resulting in one set arranged chronologically and then alphabetically, and two sets arranged chronologically. The first set of chronologically-arranged correspondence is composed of carbon copies of Wray’s outgoing correspondence from his years with the Rockefeller Foundation as well as his time at Columbia and Harvard. The Rockefeller Foundation correspondence is additionally separated into the categories of “internal” (correspondents within the Foundation) and “external” (correspondents at other institutions). The alphabetical correspondence and the second set of chronological correspondence contain both incoming and outgoing correspondence.
Other types of materials in the papers include reports; copies of works to which Wray submitted chapters or articles; reprints of works by Wray and other authors; manuscript notes on a variety of topics; extensive research materials, most notably from a preschool nutrition survey in Colombia; Rockefeller Foundation field diaries from Colombia and Thailand; and some photographs taken in Thailand.
Series I: Biographical information.
Box 1
Curricula vitae and other autobiographical information prepared by Wray for purposes of introductions at speaking events; his 1971 medical license; both Stanford diplomas and certificate of professorship emeritus from Columbia University; and other mixed records, arranged chronologically.
Series II: Rockefeller Foundation reports and diaries
Box 1-2
Rockefeller Foundation time and expense reports and bound typescripts of diaries from Colombia and Thailand. The Rockefeller Foundation required field officers to prepare and submit regular “diaries” about their activities and experiences in the field, which were then reviewed and discussed at the home office in New York; arranged chronologically.
Series III: Correspondence, Alphabetical
Boxes 3-9
Incoming and outgoing correspondence with supervisors, co-workers, professional colleagues, students and family members; arranged chronologically and then alphabetically within sub-series. Other Rockefeller Foundation correspondence can be found in Series IV and V (Chronological correspondence – 1 and 2). This series is divided into the following sub-series:
Sub-series 3.1: Colombia, 1961-1966
(1.25 boxes, .33 cu feet)
Topics vary, but include matters relating to placement of graduate students, ongoing research, publications, conferences, local and world events, and internal Rockefeller Foundation business.
Sub-series 3.2: Thailand, 1967-74
(3.5 boxes, 1.25 cu. feet)
Topics vary, but include matters relating to placement of graduate students,
ongoing research, conferences, world events, and internal Rockefeller Foundation business.
Sub-series 3.3: Harvard School of Public Health, 1975-76
(.25 boxes, 5 folders)
Topics vary, but include matters relating to placement of graduate students, ongoing research, publications, conferences, world events, and internal departmental business.
Sub-series 3.4: Columbia University, 1980-92
(1.25 boxes, .33 cu. feet)
Topics vary, but include matters relating to placement of graduate students, ongoing research, publications, conferences, world events, and the internal operations of the Center for Population and Family Health.
Series IV: Correspondence, Chronological files -1
Boxes 10-11
Carbon copies of letters sent from Wray to supervisors and co-workers at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City, as well as copies of official correspondence from Way’s time at Harvard and Columbia; arranged chronologically. Other Rockefeller Foundation correspondence can be found in Series III and V (Correspondence, Alphabetical and Correspondence, Chronological -2).
This series is divided into the following sub-series:
Sub-series 4.1: Rockefeller Foundation, 1961-1974
(2 boxes, .66 cu. feet)
Copies of letters sent to individuals within the Foundation (“internal”), most often in New York City, and also to individuals outside the Foundation (“external”), topics vary, arranged chronologically.
Sub-series 4.2: Harvard School of Public Health, 1975-1985
(.25 boxes, 2 folders)
Topics vary, but include matters relating to graduate students, conferences, and other academic issues.
Sub-series 4.3: Columbia University School of Public Health, 1982-1985
(.25, 2 folders)
Topics vary, but document graduate student placement and recommendations, conferences and other academic issues.
Series V: Correspondence, Chronological - 2
Boxes 12-15
Incoming and outgoing correspondence with supervisors, co-workers, professional colleagues, students and family members, arranged chronologically. Other Rockefeller Foundation correspondence can be found Series III and IV (Correspondence, Alphabetical and Correspondence, Chronological -1).
This series is divided into the following sub-series:
Sub-series 5.1: Turkey and Colombia, 1957-1964
(3 boxes, 1 cu. foot)
Topics vary, but include matters relating to placement of graduate students, ongoing research, publications, conferences, local and world events, and internal Rockefeller Foundation business.
Sub-series 5.2: Thailand, 1974-76
(1 box, .33 cu. Feet)
Topics vary, but include matters relating to placement of graduate students, ongoing research, publications, conferences, local and world events, and internal Rockefeller Foundation business.
Sub-series 5.3: Harvard, Columbia and retirement, 1977-2001
(1 box and two folders, .33 cu. feet)
Topics vary, but include matters relating to placement of graduate students, ongoing research, publications, conferences, local and world events, and departmental business, and some personal matters.
Series VI: Research materials
Boxes 16-19
The raw materials of the research that occupied Wray’s entire career, including notes, graphs and raw data from a nutrition study in Candelaria, Colombia; demographic surveys in Thailand; manuscript notes on a variety of topics; and graphs and charts covering multiple areas of nutrition and pediatric interest.
This series is divided into the following sub-series:
Sub-series 6.1: Sample nutrition record forms, 1950s-90s
(.25 box, 4 folders)
Blank health registers and nutrition charts, cards and booklets from around the world, dating from the 1950s through the 1990s.
Sub-series 6.2: Nutrition study in Candelaria, 1962-67
(1.75 boxes, .5 cu. feet)
Graphs, notes, reports, instructions and raw data from a study of malnutrition
in pre-school children in Candelaria, Colombia.
Sub-series 6.3: Thai health and demographic surveys, 1969-1972
(1 box, .33 cu. feet)
Graphs and tables from demographic surveys performed in Bang-Pa-In, Tambon Ben Wah and Amphur Beng Pa-In, Thailand.
Sub-series 6.4: Rockefeller Foundation analyses, 1970-74
(.66 box, 4 folders)
Reports and analyses of Rockefeller Foundation programs in Colombia and Thailand.
Sub-series 6.5: Manuscript notes, 1965-1977
(.5 box, 7 folders)
Handwritten notes and some charts, topics vary, but focus on pediatrics and childhood malnutrition.
Sub-series 6.6: Graphs and charts, 1970s-1985
(1 box. .33 cu ft.)
Graphs and charts used in articles and presentations, topics include maternal nutrition and breast feeding, primary health care, and general malnutrition topics, featuring data from 1820-1985.
Series VII: Breastfeeding controversy/Nestlé Boycott
Boxes 20-21
Correspondence, reports, news articles, conference talks and other publications on the subjects of “bottle baby syndrome;” the boycott of Nestlé and other manufacturers of infant formula in the 1970s led by a variety of church groups, including the Southern California Interfaith Hunger Coalition, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, the National Council of Churches; and the nutritional implications of widespread use of skim milk and baby formula produced and sold by multi-national corporations to mothers in developing nations.
Series VIII: Other special projects
Box 22
Sub-series 8.1: China and Tibet, 1973-83
(.25 box, 4 folders)
Notes and diaries from the Wrays’ personal and professional trips to China and Tibet over a period of two decades. Includes Wray’s notebooks recording his observations of children, childhood, maternity and maternal and child health in China in the early 1970s.
Sub-series 8.2: Primary health care and consulting
(.75 box, 8 folders)
Reports and proposals for primary health care and consulting projects conducted for a variety of organizations, including Save the Children.
Series IX: Publications
Boxes 23-30
Bound and loose copies of reports and reprints authored by Wray; books, magazines and conference proceedings to which Wray contributed materials; and articles on numerous nutrition and pediatric topics by a variety of authors.
Sub-series 9.1: Publications - Wray - loose
(5 boxes, 1.66 cu. feet)
Reprints and copies of articles and book chapters on a variety of topics, authored by Wray; arranged chronologically.
Sub-series 9.2: Publications - Wray - bound volumes
(1 carton and 2 boxes, 1.66 cu. feet)
Scrapbooks of reprints created by Wray, also bound copies of books, magazines and conference proceedings to which Wray contributed work.
Sub-series 9.3: Other authors
(2 boxes, .66 cu feet)
Reprints and copies of articles written by people other than Wray; also on a variety of topics, may have been consulted as part of his research; arranged chronologically.
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Gift of the Wray family, 2007 (acc. # 2007.03.13).
Processed by Jennifer McGillan, December 2009-April 2010. Some duplicates were removed. Finding aid written by Jennifer McGillan, May 2010.