PRESIDENTIAL
MEDAL OF FREEDOM
AWARDED TO
FRED DAVID GRAY
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN BESTOWED THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM UPON FELLOW FRED DAVID GRAY AT A WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY
ON THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2022. THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM IS THE NATION’S HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR, PRESENTED TO INDIVIDUALS
WHO HAVE MADE EXEMPLARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROSPERITY, VALUES, OR SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES, WORLD PEACE,
Born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, Fred was ordained a Christian minister
as a teenager and, following high school, he received a BS from Alabama
State College for Negroes (1951) and an LLB from Case Western Reserve University
in Cleveland, Ohio (1954) - at the time, there were no law schools in Alabama
that accepted African-Americans. Fred returned to Montgomery to open
his private law practice while also serving as minister to the Holt Street Church
of Christ. Fred went on to become one of the first African-American members
of the Alabama State Legislature and was the first African-American President of
the Alabama State Bar. Fred became a Fellow in the College in 1999.
Fred has spent his life and career fighting for the civil rights of all Americans,
successfully arguing some of the most significant cases in U.S. history against racial
segregation and discrimination. As a young attorney, Fred represented Rosa
Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Claudette Colvin, as well as the NAACP.
He also successfully represented plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit involving
the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, later writing a book about the both the study and
his journey to providing restitution for the families of the study’s participants.
Another book, Martin v King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Criminal Trial That
Launched the Civil Rights Movement, was released this past May. Co-authored by
Fred along with Dan Abrams and David Fisher, the book provides personal insight
into that landmark criminal trial. Fred became Dr. King’s defense attorney
at just twenty-four years old and would later be described by Dr. King as “the brilliant
young leader who later became the chief counsel for the protest movement.”
Making it his life’s mission to advocate
for the rights of the underserved, Fred
has been pursuing civil rights over a
career spanning nearly seven decades.
Despite the threat of personal harm, to
both himself and his family, Fred has remained
stalwart in his commitment to
social justice. His work is not only the
finest representation of the College’s mission,
his personal dedication to providing
access to justice for all Americans has
earned him the respect of our nation.
Sarah Stokes
OR OTHER SIGNIFICANT ENDEAVORS THAT BENEFIT SOCIETY.
FALL 2022 JOURNAL 38