James H. Gray, Sr.
| James H. Gray, Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Albany, Georgia | |
|
In office January 2, 1974 – September 19, 1986 |
|
| Preceded by | Motie Wiggins |
| Succeeded by | Wm. Larry Bays |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 17, 1916 Westfield, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | September 19, 1986 (aged 70) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Cleair Ranger |
| Children | James H. Gray, Jr. Geoffrey Gray Constance Greens |
| Alma mater |
Dartmouth College University of Heidelberg |
James Harrison Gray, Sr., (May 17, 1916 - September 19, 1986) was a Georgia politician and Democratic chairman; he was the founder of Gray Communications Systems, Inc., the editor and publisher of The Albany Herald and mayor of Albany, Georgia.
Gray was born in Westfield, Massachusetts. He graduated from Dartmouth College and also studied at the University of Heidelberg. He was a member of the United States Army and trained at Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia in World War II before moving to Albany, Georgia in 1946.
In 1946, Gray founded Gray Communications Systems, Inc. and became editor and publisher of The Albany Herald, an evening and Sunday paper he purchased in Albany, Georgia. In 1954, Gray launched WALB-TV, the second television station in the state of Georgia after WSB-TV in Atlanta.
In a time a social turmoil in the South, Gray was named state Democratic chairman in 1960. He quickly emerged as a leader in a movement that sought to replace Senator Lyndon B. Johnson as the Southern standard bearer at the 1960 Democratic National Convention. At the convention itself, Southern delegations staged a vain fight to keep the party from adopting its firmest civil rights platform up to then. Mr. Gray was called upon to read the Segregationists' Minority Report, astonishing fellow delegates with his unmistakable Northern accent. Toward the end of 1960, he refused a television debate on sit-in demonstrations with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., asserting that the black leader had "openly defied Georgia laws." He then thwarted an integration campaign by Dr. King in Albany and even bought a public swimming pool and reopened it for whites only.
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