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National Portrait Gallery Honors Civil Rights Attorney Fred Gray

The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s third annual Day of Action shined a light on the work of Fred Gray and his legacy of transformative civil rights litigation.

Fred Gray standing next to his portrait. (Photo courtesy of Matailong Du via Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery)


In a space filled with art and activism, the National Portrait Gallery’s third annual Day of Action brought history to life by honoring civil rights attorney Fred Gray. 

Gray is known for representing multiple high profile clients such as Claudette Colvin, Rosa Parks, the victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Congressman John Lewis, among other notable civil rights leaders and organizations. He provided counsel for and was a friend of Martin Luther King Jr., who named him “the chief counsel of the Civil Rights Movement.”

Held on Jan. 25, this year’s Day of Action was similar to the one’s before, featuring arts programming, music and gallery tours. The courtyard was filled with joy, laughter, creativity and featured organizations like the Anacostia Community Museum and the Latin American Youth Center.

The event invited families, youth and community members to “discover activists in the museum’s exhibitions and use creativity to build connections with others and to imagine and advocate for a better and more equitable world.”

In the gallery’s courtyard, community organizations provided opportunities for attendees to engage with the world around them and inspire change through creative and innovative action. 

“I think we need to pull together now more than ever, and I think it’s a wonderful day to inspire others to get involved,” Jenelle Cooper, the community service coordinator of the Anacostia Community Museum said. 

At Cooper’s table, visitors found felt, scissors and other craft supplies to make quilt squares of what change they wanted to see in their communities. The squares would then be put together to form a larger quilt to be displayed in the museum. Additional creative programming included embroidery and writing letters to elected officials. 

Other organizations, such as the Latin American Youth Center, provided patrons with resources and brochures about what the organization does and how to get involved. 

“[We’re here to] meet other organizations doing similar work. We also want to meet youth… and get them knowledgeable in the things that we do so that they can join us in our fight to create art and create programming to better our communities,” said Chris Herrera, the enrichment coordinator of the center.  

The event included a panel discussion with Gray and artist Michael Shane Neal, who also produced the portrait of Congressman Lewis. The conversation explored Gray’s legacy and the intersection between activism and art.

A highlight of the conversation was when Neal explained the inspiration behind the portrait. 

“It was easy to be inspired by his life’s work…I did read cover-to-cover “Bus Ride to Justice,” which informed me greatly about his life’s work and got me very excited about painting him,” he said.

Gray represented the Freedom Riders, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). 

In 2022, Gray received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and in 2024, received an honorary doctorate from Howard.

The painting depicts Gray, standing confidently with his hand resting on a stack of books and behind him, light pours in through the window creating a contrast with the dark room. Neal explains the significance of creating the contrast between light and dark.

“The heavens just opened and light just poured in the windows…And this light just came in and struck him and hit the wall behind him. And I thought to myself this is exactly what he’s been doing his entire career. He’s been bringing light into dark places and exposing them using the law,” Neal said. 

While Gray’s work is immortalized in his portrait, he declares that it is far from over. “The struggle continues. We have now been fighting for a long, long time. The question is: where do we go from here?” Gray asked the audience.

For Gray, the answer was establishing the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights. The institute said its first symposium aims to inspire change through actionable dialogue while focusing on issues rooted in medical racism, voting rights, human and civil rights law and equal access to quality education. 

“There are so many different individuals who have played a role in the Civil Rights Movement, [you] just need to decide what [you] want to do, talk to some other people about it and who knows you may be here one day,” Gray said.

Copy edited by Aniyah Genama

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