J. Gray Lucas

John Gray Lucas (March 11, 1864– October 27, 1944) was a lawyer and a state legislator in Arkansas during the early 20th century.

It was during this time, and amidst a growing level of racial tension across the south, that he delivered a speech in February 1891 demanding that Jim Crow Laws not be extended to the Arkansas railway system.

He was included in a photo montage of African American state legislators serving in Arkansas in 1891 published in The Freeman newspaper in Indianapolis.

In the Arkansas House Lucas opposed J. N. Tillman's segregated coach bill.

[7] The same year he left Arkansas for Chicago where he became a successful and prominent attorney including on cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

He became known as an expert in criminal law, and held an office at 88 Dearborn Avenue in the Chicago Loop.