Willis M. Graves: The Color of Courage Biography-5
The Color of Courage: A Life Well Lived
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​​Willis continued to fight for racial justice for the remainder of his life. In 1957, he and his law partner Francis Dent were honored at the 48th annual convention of the NAACP by Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins.​​​
The city of Detroit declared June 20, 1965 as “Willis M. Graves Day”, and he was presented an oil portrait from St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church (of which he was a long-time member).
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Willis married Irene Green in 1926. Irene, who earned a doctorate from the Sorbonne, was a distinguished educator; she and Willis were both leaders in the Detroit Black community. They had no children.
Willis M. Graves died on December 15, 1966 after a long illness. The Detroit Free Press -- the city's largest and oldest newspaper -- published his obituary.​
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It is interesting to note that the white-owned Free Press never mentioned Willis' legal efforts to end segregation from the 1930s through the 1950s -- and provided virtually no coverage to the ongoing struggle for Detroit civil rights during that era.
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The Color of Courage
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If it had not been for the Black press - and the courageous efforts of leaders like Willis Graves -- the effort to end segregation would not have been reported, nor would the successful ending to legal segregation occurred.​​​​