# Mrs. Grey — The Quest of the Silver Fleece character guide

> Mrs. Grey in The Quest of the Silver Fleece by W. E. B. Du Bois.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** old Mrs. Grey, The rich Mrs. Grey, Grey

**First appearance:** 0015-xiii-mrs-grey-gives-a-dinner

## Snapshot

A wealthy Wellesley graduate who funds philanthropies she doesn't understand, guided by advisers with cotton money on their minds.

## Who they are

Mrs. Grey collects causes and college girls the way other women collect china, and her interest in Negro education is sincere but easily steered. John Taylor coaches his sister Mary to 'go easy' with her, so that Mrs. Grey's money and influence serve the cotton combine rather than Miss Smith's school. She matters because her checkbook and her social circle are the quiet machinery through which Northern capital shapes Southern schooling.

## In the story

### [VI: Cotton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_quest_of_the_silver_fleece_se/chapters/vi-cotton)

A wealthy widow inclined to philanthropy, but her intentions are challenged by her executor and her own social circle.

### [XIII: Mrs. Grey Gives a Dinner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_quest_of_the_silver_fleece_se/chapters/xiii-mrs-grey-gives-a-dinner)

Hostess who is naive about racial issues but eager to appear philanthropic; her dinner brings together conflicting viewpoints.

### [Revelation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_quest_of_the_silver_fleece_se/chapters/xv-revelation)

The wealthy philanthropist whose plans for Negro education trigger the political maneuvering; she is part of the committee visiting the South, unaware of the ulterior motives.

### [XVI: The Great Refusal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_quest_of_the_silver_fleece_se/chapters/xvi-the-great-refusal)

Mrs. Grey offers to endow the school with a hundred and fifty thousand dollars but with the condition that the money be controlled by a board including Mr. Cresswell and other men. She is surprised and unable to understand Miss Smith's refusal.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_quest_of_the_silver_fleece_se/characters/mrs_grey
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_quest_of_the_silver_fleece_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_quest_of_the_silver_fleece_se/characters