Raye Montague
American naval engineer (1935-2018)
Raye Jean Montague (née Jordan; January 21, 1935 – October 10, 2018) was an American naval engineer credited with creating the first computer-generated rough draft of a U.S. naval ship. She was the first female program manager of ships in the United States Navy.
Early life and education
Raye Jordan was born on January 21, 1935, to Rayford Jordan and Flossie Graves Jordan in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was inspired to pursue engineering after seeing a "midget" submarine, possibly the HA. 19, as a traveling exhibit that came to Little Rock.
She recalled, “My grandfather took me downtown to see that submarine and I was able to go down a little ladder into that sub. It was like a tin can. That was my first introduction to ships. You just never know what inspires a person.”
She graduated from Merrill High School in 1952. For college, she attended Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College (now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) and graduated in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business. At the time, the engineering program at the University of Arkansas did not admit African-American students.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Raye Montague” is american naval engineer (1935-2018). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Raye, Montague and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american naval engineer (1935-2018)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28835041. VIAF identifies the subject as 39153651732855782044. The Library of Congress control number is no2018114644. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1935, 2018, 1952 and 1956.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Raye Montague”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Raye Montague primary sources, Raye Montague archive and Raye research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Raye Montague”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Raye Montague” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.