ILJS Honors the Life of One of the Most Influential Civil Rights Attorneys in U.S. History

From LIPSCOMBnow: November 19

More than 250 judges, attorneys, elected officials, college presidents, ministers, faculty, students and friends gathered Saturday evening, Nov. 12, at Nashville’s Frist Center for the Visual Arts to celebrate the naming of Lipscomb University’s Institute for Law, Justice & Society in honor of history-making civil rights attorney Fred D. Gray.

The Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice & Society at Lipscomb University recognizes Gray’s stated lifelong commitment to “eradicate racism” through the law, beginning with his work at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Gray began his legal career as a sole practitioner and less than a year out of law school at age 24, he represented Rosa Parks after she refused to give up her seat on a city bus, which began the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Gray was also Martin Luther King Jr.’s first civil rights lawyer, represented the Freedom Riders and filed the lawsuits that desegregated Alabama schools.

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Justice Cornelia Clark
Justice Cornelia Clark
Photos by:  Kristi Jones
Photos by: Kristi Jones