Biographical Text
Professor Emerita of Secondary Education Margaret English Gragg (April 23, 1919 - ), English teacher, guidance counselor, college professor, director of a university teaching center, and a supervisor of student teachers, was born in Burnsville, North Carolina. She is the only daughter and oldest of three children of Samuel Louis English and Elizabeth McPheters English of Yancey County. Her father was a lumberman and a Clerk of Superior Court in Yancey County; her mother, a teacher for twenty years. In 1941 Mrs. Gragg earned a B.S. degree, cum laude, in education with a minor in English from Appalachian State Teachers College. She earned the M.A. degree in education and English from Appalachian in 1950. In 1963 she completed requirements for certification in guidance and counseling. On December 20, 1942, Margaret English married Frederick Morris (Fred M.) Gragg, the son of William Roy and Elmyra Shook Gragg of Boone. A 1942 graduate of Appalachian, Gragg was an English teacher for one year. Following his first year of teaching, he served almost three years in the United States Navy. After his years in the Navy, he served as Clerk of Superior Court in Watauga County for seven years and as personnel manager for IRC/TRW, Boone division, for fifteen years. At the time of his death from a heart attack, he was also a member of the Boone Town Council. The Graggs are parents of one daughter: Margaret Elizabeth Gragg (April 8, 1944—) earned an A.B. degree in English from Duke University in 1966 and a Master of Arts in teaching in 1972 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is an English teacher and the principal of the high school division of Charlotte Country-Day School. Before joining the faculty at the Country Day School, she taught English in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools for nine years. Upon graduation from college, Mrs. Gragg was employed by Appalachian State Teachers College. She was first an English teacher and critic teacher at Appalachian High School, the laboratory school of the college, from 1941-1944. She left the high school for two years in 1944 and then returned to her teaching position in 1946. From 1946-1965, Mrs. Gragg held a variety of positions at Appalachian High School and at Appalachian State Teachers College. At the high school she was English teacher, chairman of the English department, and critic or supervising teacher in the student teaching program of the college. She was also part-time counselor (1949-1965) and assistant principal (1957-1958). In addition, she was an adjunct member of the Department of Education of the college, teaching to college English majors the "Methods of Teaching High School English" from 1949-1965. During the summer terms of 1959 and 1960, she was the director of English workshops sponsored by the college for public school English teachers. When the Watauga county high schools were consolidated in 1965, Mrs. Gragg went to the new Watauga High School as Guidance Director-Counselor. During the summer terms of 1966 and 1967, she continued to work with Appalachian, serving as assistant director of student teaching workshops for public school teachers. From 1974-1976 she was Assistant Principal for Curriculum as well as Guidance Director and counselor for seniors at Watauga High School. In 1974 Mrs. Gragg was named 'Teacher of the Year" by the Watauga High faculty. Over a period of years, she served as a member of visiting teams to evaluate fifteen or more high schools for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1976 Mrs. Gragg moved from Watauga High School to Appalachian State University as a member of the Department of Secondary Education. From 1976-1984 she served as Director of the Appalachian Teaching Center in Lenoir and the supervisor of student teachers in Caldwell and Catawba counties. In the College of Education, she served on a number of committees, including the Field Advisory Council for Student Teaching and the Scholarship Committee. Mrs. Gragg has been an active member of a number of professional organizations for educators. She is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, an honor society for women teachers, and Phi Delta Kappa, an education fraternity. A charter member (1948) and a three-term president of the Boone Business and Professional Women's Club, Mrs. Gragg remains active in that organization. In 1975 she was selected the "BPW Woman of the Year." After forty-one years of teaching in Boone and Watauga County, Mrs. Gragg retired from Appalachian State University in June 1984. In November 1984 she was elected to a four-year term on the Watauga County Board of Education and was then elected by the Board to serve as chairman. Her lifetime interest in education and in the youth of Watauga County prompted her to continue working in education, even after retiring. In her retirement she plans to devote much of her time to her hobbies, sewing and reading-especially reading with her Laurel Book Club friends of thirty years. Sources: Appalachian State University files and personal interviews. - Dr. Richard D. Howe
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