Dorothy Jean Ray

Who was Dorothy Jean Ray?

Dorothy Jean Ray was an author and anthropologist best known for her study of Native Alaskan art and culture.

In addition to a number of published books, she has had articles and papers published in Alaska History, Alaska Journal, Alaska, American Indian Art, Arctic Anthropology, Journal of the West, Pacific Northwest Quarterly, and others.

She received honorary doctorates from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and her alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa. Additional honors include the Dorothy Jean Ray Anthropology Scholarship at the University of Northern Iowa.

Some of her lifetime collection of artifacts are now part of the University of Alaska Museum Fairbanks' collection. Her book A Legacy of Arctic Art has been described as being both a catalog of the collection, and a memoir of the author's lengthy career.

She was married to fellow anthropologist and author Verne F. Ray.