Fred Gray was one of the few Alabama lawyers who took on civil rights cases during the late 1950s. As a founding member of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), he handled the organization’s legal affairs . In addition, Gray was the defense attorney for Rosa Parks, served as chief counsel during the Montgomery bus boycott, and represented Martin Luther King, Jr. numerous times in court.
Gray, who was born in Montgomery in 1930, earned his B.A. from Alabama State College in 1951 and his LL.B. from Case Western Reserve University in 1954. After passing the bar examinations in Ohio and Alabama, Gray moved back to Montgomery to start his law practice. In 1956, he married Bernice Hill, with whom he had four children. Ordained into the ministry as a teenager, Gray was also a pastor at Holt Street Church of Christ in Montgomery .
Throughout his legal career, Gray fought against segregation and discrimination. Following the Montgomery bus boycott, he continued to fight civil rights cases in Alabama, representing the local and state National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and litigating to integrate higher education institutions. Gray was also one of five lawyers who represented King during his 1960 tax trial. The legal team achieved a notable victory when King became the first person in Alabama to stand trial for perjury on a tax return and be found not guilty.
Gray served in the Alabama state legislature from 1970 to 1974 as one of the first two African Americans elected since Reconstruction. In 1973, he unsuccessfully introduced a bill to make the third Monday in January a state holiday in honor of King. His autobiography, Bus Ride to Justice, was published in 1994.