A new Alabama portrait is now on display at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Civil rights attorney Fred Gray captured by artist Michael Shane Neal can be seen on the first floor of the Gallery at Eighth and G streets N.W.

To mark this significant occasion, the Smithsonian will host a special event on Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 4:30pm titled “In Conversation with Fred Gray and Michael Shane Neal.” During this engaging program, the artist and Gray himself will discuss the portrait, the creative process, and Gray’s profound impact on the civil rights movement. For more information and to register for this free event, please visit the event’s eventbrite page.

Prior to the program, a Smithsonian curator will lead a customized tour featuring paintings and sculptures of Alabamians who have lived in and around Tuskegee/Macon County, Montgomery, and others who have impacted the lives of Alabamians and Americans. With a theme focused on conquering adversities of all kinds, various people will be featured including lawyers, educators, freedom fighters, union and community organizers – an array of people from the 20th and 21st century. The customized tour is being coordinated by the Tuskegee History Center.

To make reservations or for more information contact Deborah Gray at [email protected] and/or call (334) 724-0800.

About the Tuskegee History Center

The Tuskegee History Center, also known as the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center, was established in 1997 by the survivors of the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The Center’s mission is to preserve, present and promote the history of Tuskegee and Macon County, Alabama including the contributions of Indigenous Americans, European Americans and Americans of African descent.

Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

8th and G Streets, NW

Washington, DC 20001

www.si.edu/museums/portrait-gallery

Coming Soon:

Official announcement of National Fred Gray Institute of Human and Civil Rights.