Tracy Strayer and her husband Ed from the USA visited the Robert Gordon's College Archive during the October holidays. They were researching the history of her great grandfather Henry Wynd Young. His stained glass artwork appears in some of the greatest churches in Manhattan and throughout New England. 

Born in Bannockburn in 1874, Henry Young moved to Aberdeen with his family as a boy and became a house painter. In 1889 he won a competition in freehand drawing to gain a scholarship of 10 shillings to study art at evening classes. This was the time when Robert Gordon's College offered classes to the public under the name of Gray’s School of Art. Classes at that time were held in the building to the right of the front gateway.

Henry continued to work during the day and study at night for 6 years. During the evening classes he met Douglas Strachan and, like him, he chose to specialise in stained glass. He emigrated to the States in 1907 and set up a business in New York. His highly respected stained glass windows appear in some of the greatest churches in Manhattan and throughout New England. Mrs Hartley said: "Tracy was delighted to see some of the documents we hold here, and to visit the place where Henry Young received his art education."