Fred David Gray is an American civil rights attorney, preacher, activist, and state legislator from Alabama. He handled many prominent civil rights cases, such as Browder v. Gayle, and was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1970, along with Thomas Reed, both from Tuskegee. They were the first black state legislators in Alabama in the 20th century. He served as the president of the National Bar Association in 1985, and in 2001 was elected as the first African-American President of the Alabama State Bar.

Alabama State University is a public historically black university in Montgomery, Alabama. Founded in 1867, during the Reconstruction era, it was one of about 180 "normal schools" established by state governments in the 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing public common schools. It was one of 23 established to train African Americans to teach in segregated schools. Some of the 180 closed but most steadily expanded their role and became state colleges in the early 20th century and state universities in the late 20th century. ASU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.