Democratic congressman from Philadelphia from 1979 to 1991, William H. Gray, III (born 1941) became the highest-ranking African American leader in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives when colleagues elected him the House Whip on June 14, 1989.

William H. Gray III was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 20, 1941. He was the only son of Dr. William H. Gray, Jr., clergyman and educator, and Hazel Yates Gray, a high school teacher. Shortly after his birth Gray moved with his parents and an older sister, Marion, to St. Augustine, Florida, where his father served as president of Florida Normal and Industrial College. After a move to Tallahassee so his father could become the president of Florida A&M College, the Gray family moved to Philadelphia, where Dr. Gray became pastor of the Bright Hope Baptist Church.

During this time William, who lived with his family on the city's north side...