Malcolm Strachan Chair of English Literature

 
The Malcolm Strachan Chair of English Literature was established in 1990 by family and friends of The Reverend Malcolm Strachan, beloved master of English, Chaplain, and head of the Sacred Studies Department. Malcolm was a member of the Groton faculty from 1932 until his death in 1960. Since 2023, Martha Gracey has held this chair.

Martha Gracey teaches English, coaches field hockey, and serves on a variety of committees that benefit from her long-time involvement in boarding schools. Her passion in the classroom is American Literature, ranging from Southern writers, such as Twain, Faulkner, and Welty, to New England writers, including Dickinson, Emerson, Hawthorne, and Frost. What resonates for her about teaching literature is that, as Frost said, it “provides a clarification of life . . . a momentary stay against confusion.”

Before working at Groton School, Martha spent most of her teaching career at The Lawrenceville School, where she served as dean of students, English teacher, house parent, and varsity field hockey and lacrosse coach. She has a BA from Bates College and an MA from Trinity College. Martha and her husband Ian, Groton’s director of admission, have three daughters, Katherine ’12, Becca ’14, and Lizzy. They spend their summers in an old farmhouse on the coast of Maine.
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