Henry Vance Graham (May 7, 1916 – March 21, 1999) was an American Army National Guard general who protected black activists during the civil rights movement.

On the evening of May 21, 1961, Freedom Riders and their supporters met at Ralph Abernathy's First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama to honor their struggle.

Two days later, on May 24, Graham was responsible for escorting the Freedom Riders from the Montgomery bus terminal to the Alabama-Mississippi border using a convoy of three planes, two helicopters, and seventeen highway patrol cars.

[6][7] In his most prominent role, on June 11, 1963, General Graham confronted Governor George Wallace at the University of Alabama for refusing to allow two black students, James Hood and Vivian Malone, to register for classes.

Among a crowd of media, Governor Wallace obstructed the doorway of Foster Auditorium in an attempt to disregard federal law requiring the university to integrate.

United States Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach had approached Wallace earlier in the day and requested his cooperation in standing aside.

"[9] The episode is re-enacted in the 1994 film Forrest Gump, which includes original footage of General Graham and Governor Wallace outside Foster Auditorium.

[2] This occurred two weeks after marchers had been beaten and tear-gassed in front of news media for an earlier attempt to march in what became known as Bloody Sunday.

This unusual administrative move was to enable General Graham, who did not hold the proper military occupational specialty to serve as a pilot, and to perform flight training and duties as a warrant officer.