{{Short description|American politician and activist (1938–2023)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Curtis Graves | image = | office = Member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 23-6 | term_start = January 10, 1967 | term_end = January 9, 1973 | office2 = | term_start2 = | term_end2 = | term_start3 = | term_end3 = | state_senate2 = | term2 = | district2 = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1938|8|26}} | birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|7|26|1938|8|26}} | death_place = Tucker, Georgia, U.S. | party = Democratic | spouse = Kay Bryant<br />Joanne Graves (divorced) | children = 3, including Gizelle Bryant | relatives = | alma_mater = Texas Southern University (B.A.)<br>Princeton University(M.S.) }}
'''Curtis M. Graves''' (August 26, 1938 – July 26, 2023) was an American civil rights activist and politician in the state of Texas. He was one of the first African Americans to serve in the Texas House of Representatives since the Reconstruction.
== Early life == Curtis Matthew Graves was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 26, 1938, to Fregelio Joseph Graves and Mable Haydel Graves. He grew up in a creole family, his father and uncle owned Butsy and Buddy's, the only black-owned Esso stations in Louisiana at the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stylemagazine.com/news/2013/feb/15/you-are-invited-today-works-curtis-graves-entitled/|title=You Are Invited Today: The Works of Curtis Graves Entitled "Louisiana Remembered: Visual Stories Linking Past to Present"|access-date=November 21, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/Louisiana/Curtis-Graves_49cxnd|title = Curtis Graves in the 1940 Census | Ancestry®|website = Ancestry.com}}</ref>
Graves attended Xavier University, before transferring to Texas Southern University, where he joined Kappa Alpha Psi and graduated in 1963 with a degree in business administration. Graves participated in sit-ins, marches, and helped found the Progressive Youth Association which played a major role in the desegregation of Houston.<ref name=":0" />
== Career == Graves was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1967 to 1973 as a Democrat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/mobile/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=739|title=Texas Legislators: Past & Present – Mobile|access-date=November 21, 2014}}</ref> Along with Barbara Jordan and Joe Lockridge, he was one of three African-American members elected in 1966, the first ones since 1896.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/archive/html/leg/features/0304_02/race.html|title=Texas Politics – Race and Ethnicity in the Texas Legislature|access-date=November 21, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/wmafr|title=AFRICAN AMERICANS AND POLITICS|access-date=November 21, 2014}}</ref> Graves was a major force in the Civil Rights Movement during which he worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A businessman, he was an alumnus of Texas Southern University and Princeton University. He also worked for NASA's academic affairs division and as Director for Civil Affairs. Graves was an artistic photographer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gravesfineartphotos.webs.com/allaboutcurtis.htm|title=All About Curtis}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tsu.edu/academics/Robert_J_Terry_Library/Curtis%20Graves%20Collection.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=November 21, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140830004551/http://tsu.edu/academics/Robert_J_Terry_Library/Curtis%20Graves%20Collection.pdf |archive-date=August 30, 2014 }}</ref>
== Personal life == Curtis Graves was married to Joanne Graves, with whom he had three children. One of his children is Gizelle Bryant, star of ''The Real Housewives of Potomac'' and former wife of megachurch pastor Jamal Bryant.
Graves was married to Kay Bryant and resided in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hz8OAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Graves,+Curtis%22+texas+1938|title=Who's who Among Black Americans|date=December 1985|publisher=Who's who among Black Americans, Incorporated, Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-915130-96-2|access-date=November 21, 2014}}</ref><ref name=":0">https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/tucker-ga/curtis-graves-11386916</ref>
Curtis Graves died on July 26, 2023, at the age of 84.<ref>{{cite news |title=Curtis Graves, Famed Civil Rights Activist and Father of 'RHOP' Star Gizelle Bryant, Dead at 84 |url=https://people.com/curtis-graves-civil-rights-activist-gizelle-bryant-father-dead-7567234 |access-date=30 July 2023 |publisher=People |date=28 July 2023}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Curtis}} Category:1938 births Category:2023 deaths Category:Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Category:20th-century African-American politicians Category:African-American people in Texas politics Category:Louisiana Creole people Category:People from New Orleans Category:Activists from Houston Category:Politicians from Houston Category:Photographers from Texas Category:Politicians from New Orleans Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Texas Southern University alumni Category:20th-century members of the Texas Legislature
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