Sidney Bray Collection

About the Collection

Sidney Bray was born on August 22, 1899, on a ranch near Bowie, Texas, to Thomas William and Martha Winkler Bray. His father was a sheriff, postmaster, and owned the local general store in Stephens County. Subsequently, the town of Bray in Stephens County is named after him. The Bray family moved from Texas to Oklahoma in 1905 when Sidney was five years old. His first job at the age of 18 was at a local oi company owned by C.E. Doty. Bray first tried to join the Navy but was not successful because of his poor eyesight. He tried with the Army and was accepted. Bray fought at the front lines in France before returning home. He married Allene Patterson on Christmas Day in 1920. 

After serving frontline duty, he returned to the United States the following year. After military service, he returned to Oklahoma and was employed by a meat-packing company. He also worked as an oilfield tool dresser and a hardware sales-clerk. Finally, he was a motor car company employee in Oklahoma City. Through hard work and innovation, Bray worked his way up to national sales promotion manager for the Pontiac division of General Motors. In 1941, he became advertising manager for the Packard Corporation in New York City.

He brought his family back to Oklahoma in 1942 when he was appointed State Director of the War Bonds Division of the U.S. Treasury Department after returning from World War II.

Serving as regional director of the bond division for seven south-central states, he led award-winning savings bond campaigns for the Treasury. A resident of Edmond before moving to Ponca City, he was active in civic affairs and was selected as “Edmond’s Outstanding Citizen” and was named a lifetime member of Kiwanis. In Ponca City, he involved himself in community life by becoming a member of the City of Ponca City Cultural Affairs Commission, where he served for many years. In October of 1987, Bray was honored for 70 years as a continuous member of the Edmond War Veterans organization.

In 1983, Bray was inducted into Edmond’s Hall of Fame. The highest award bestowed upon Bray for accomplishments before his retirement from the government was the Albert Gallatin Award, presented by the U.S. Treasury Department when he retired in 1965. Bray directed nearly a billion and a half dollars’ worth of sales in the WWII Bond Drives.

Sidney died on Tuesday, February 6, 1996, at the age of 96. Allene died in 1978 after 50 years of marriage. They had one daughter, Mrs. Virginia Stephenson of Ponca City, and three grandchildren: Kent, Pattie, and Randy. Bray’s second wife, Ruth Womack Bray, had a son, Jerry Womack. Ruth died in 1986.

Scope & Content

• The materials outline financing of World War II in Oklahoma from 1941-to 1945.
• Indicates how 1000s of Oklahoma Volunteers were secured, informed and stimulated to do an excellent War Bond Sales job.
• Shows how city, county and state goals were established.
• Historical facts also show that every Oklahoma drive goal was exceeded by a substantial margin.
• Records show that banks, newspapers, merchants, rural organizations and many statewide associations gave of their time and money to the War Bond Program.
• Scrapbooks reveal how campaigns were presented and utilized to stimulate volunteers in cities, counties and the state to do an outstanding job.
• Some materials reflect the personal life of Sidney Bray as well as other years he served in sales and promotional positions.
• A silver plated sword & sheath in display case taken by Russians from Austria—then Japanese took the sword from Russia, and then American’s took the sword from the Japanese. The sword was sent Bray in 1942 by the U.S. Government for use as a promotional item for War Bond Drives.

Provenance

The materials were given to the Oklahoma Collection, Central State University, Archives & Special Collections, May 14, 1986, by Edmond citizen Sidney C. Bray.