AN EVENING WITH FRED GRAY
Started in 2022, Columbia Peace & Justice Initiative’s annual Legacy Luncheon will shift focus in 2024 to honor an inspiring attorney and Civil Rights legend at a special one-night event.
September 19 • 6 p.m • Maury Hills Church
OUR 2024 HONOREE: FRED GRAY
In 1954, Fred Gray began his quest towards law and justice in Montgomery, Alabama. He emerged as a leading civil rights attorney whose career spanned pivotal moments in American history. After graduating from Alabama State University and Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Gray returned to Alabama and became known for his representation of Rosa Parks during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a case that catalyzed the Civil Rights Movemen
Gray's legal prowess extended beyond Montgomery, as he fought against racial segregation in schools, transportation, and public facilities throughout the South. He was instrumental in landmark cases defending voting rights and challenging discriminatory practices in employment and housing. Fred Gray's legacy as a fearless advocate for justice continues to inspire efforts toward equality and social change in America.
Fred Gray
“It is an honor and a privilege to have such an iconic defender of civil rights share his experiences, noting how far we have come and the work that lies before us. CPJI is dedicated to bringing awareness and unity to our community through a multitude of initiatives, and we are grateful to Mr. Gray for his support of our endeavors.”
—Trent Ogilvie, CPJI President
Gray and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., break into laughterat a joke told by a speaker at a political rally in Tuskegee, Ala.King once called Gray the "chief counsel" of the civil rights movement.
Gray and his colleagues during the Tuskegee syphilis Study.
Gray, right, helped defend Rosa Parks, left, against charges ofdisorderly conduct after she was arrested in Montgomery, Ala.,
About Fred Gray
Fred D. Gray is the senior partner of the law firm of Gray, Langford, Sapp, McGowan, Gray, Gray & Nathanson, P.C., with offices in both Montgomery and Tuskegee. He is a pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement, a native of Montgomery, Alabama, and resides in Tuskegee with his lovely wife Carol. Mr. Gray’s life mission has been to destroy racial segregation wherever he finds it, and that is what he continues to do. He has practiced law since 1954, specializing in civil rights litigation, and continues to practice today at the age of 93.
He has been a cooperating attorney with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Legal Defense Fund Inc. since 1956. He represented many civil rights icons and organizations, including the victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, Congressman John Lewis, the Freedom Riders and Walkers, Selma to Montgomery Marchers, NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and others.
Attorney Gray is the recipient of many honorary degrees and awards. On July 7, 2022, President Joe Biden awarded Mr. Gray the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest award a civilian can receive. In 2023, he received the American Bar Association’s Medal, which is its highest award given and was also awarded the Legal Defense Fund’s Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as president of the National Bar Association and Alabama Bar Association and is the current president of the Tuskegee Human & Civil Rights Multicultural Center.
During his 69-year legal career Attorney Gray filed suits to end discrimination in public transportation, voting rights, rights of members in non-profit organizations, right to public education without discrimination from kindergarten to graduate schools, right of students to obtain an education and not be expelled without a hearing, equal access to farm subsidies, health care, the right to serve on civil juries and many others.
PAST LEGACY LUNCHEON HONOREES
