Compiled by Russell Bastedo
NH State Curator
1998/1999

Caroline Lord Gross (1940 - 1993)
Born at Laconia (NH); died at Concord (NH).
Civil servant, state legislator.
Portrait by Ralph Stone Jacobs, 1999.
Donated to the State, 2001.

Caroline Lord Gross graduated from Radcliffe College (1962), having married as a twenty-year old junior, and from Harvard University graduate School of Education (1964). She moved from Gilford (NH) to Concord (NH) in 1964.

In national affairs, the Lyndon Baines Johnson administration was preparing for passage through Congress two landmark pieces of legislation in 1964: the Civil Rights Act and the Aid to Education bill. Mrs. Gross was enormously interested in the political and administrative skills needed for the passage of these bills; but she wanted to learn these skills in a smaller arena than Washington, D.C. Between 1965/6 and 1980, when she finally ran for public office, Caroline Gross refined her skills within the New Hampshire political system. Mrs. Gross worked as staff assistant and special assistant to a variety of legislative committees. She served as an administrative assistant to Governor Walter Peterson, as State Coordinator of Federal Funds, and as Legislative Policy Assistant to a succession of Speakers of the House. Caroline Gross gained a reputation as a conscientious and dedicated worker who mastered her areas of expertise ably and well.

In 1980 Caroline Gross ran for a seat in the State Senate, but lost. She took time following her defeat to learn accounting and computer skills. Then in 1982 she ran for and won a seat in the State House of Representatives. Mrs. Gross served as a member of the House Appropriations Committee (1983 to 1989), becoming chair of the committee’s Division 3. In 1989 Mrs. Gross was appointed House (Republican) Majority Leader, and she served in that position until her death in 1993.

References: Interview with Martin L. Gross (2/24/99) and subsequent update (1/3/2007); Laura A. Kiernan, "Caroline Gross: a life of grace, a life of service" (Boston Sunday Globe, December 12, 1993); "Third Reading and Final Passage: A Memorial Service…."