James Albert Bray

Rev. James Albert Bray (1870–1944) was an American bishop, educator, academic administrator, and college president. He was the 18th bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (later known as the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church or CME), elected in 1934. Bray served as president of Lane College, and Miles Memorial College (now Miles College), two private historically black colleges affiliated with the CME Church.

Early life and education James Albert Bray was born on August 23, 1870 in Carnesville, Georgia. He was the eldest of six children, and his parents were Mary France (née Webster) and Andrew Jackson Bray. In 1906, he took graduate level philosophy courses at Harvard University,

Death Bray died on September 1, 1944 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is buried in Lincoln Cemetery, a historically African American cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.

Personal life In 1902, he married Mattie B. Davis, together they had one daughter. His wife Mattie died in 1910. He remarried his second wife Martha Freeman Childs, and together they had a daughter.