CPJI Hosts Evening with Civil Rights Activist Fred Gray

The Columbia Peace and Justice Initiative (CPJI) will be hosting an evening with Civil Rights activist and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient attorney Fred Gray on Thursday, September 19 at 6 p.m. The event will be held at Maury Hills Church, located at 101 Unity Drive in Columbia.

“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,” said CPJI President Trent Ogilvie. “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.”

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.

Proceeds from this CPJI Legacy Fundraiser, which will replace the traditional Legacy Luncheon in 2024, will support the completion of the Thurgood Marshall Roundabout coming in 2025 in partnership with the City of Columbia. The roundabout will feature a sculpture of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall created by renowned sculptor David Alan Clark. It will be located at the intersection of South Main Street and East 8th Street, a gateway to the historic Black business district and the epicenter of the 1946 Columbia Race Riot, a pivotal moment in Columbia’s history that sent shockwaves across the nation.

The February 24, 1946, confrontation culminated in the NAACP sending young attorney Thurgood Marshall to Columbia to defend 25 individuals who went to trial, held mainly in Lawrenceburg. Marshall fell ill before the trial commenced but remained involved from New York and returned to Columbia in November of that year to represent the last two defendants. During this time, Marshall was confronted by a lynch mob in Columbia and narrowly escaped death, an experience shared in nearly every account of Marshall’s life. Ultimately, 23 of the 25 individuals charged were acquitted for lack of evidence and two were charged with lesser counts.

Marshall’s dedication to protecting the rights of all citizens earned him the nickname “Mr. Civil Rights.” With a distinguished career that included successfully having the Supreme Court declare segregation in public schools unconstitutional (Brown v Board of Education, 1954), President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Marshall as the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967.

“By commemorating Thurgood Marshall, we not only highlight the national significance of these events but also their deep local impact, enhancing the story’s relevance and underscoring its importance in the broader context of American history,” said CPJI Legacy Event Chair Russ Adcox.

Sponsorship opportunities are currently available. For more information, contact Russ Adcox at [email protected] or 931.628.0736. Individual tickets are $55 and pay be purchased at cpji.org. For those unable to attend but who would like to support the Thurgood Marshall Roundabout project, donations may be made at cpji.org/donate or by mailing a check, payable to CPJI, to PO Box 1284, Columbia, TN 38402. CPJI is a 501(c)3 charitable organization and all donations are tax deductible.