PHOENIX — If you don't know the name Herb Ely, you certainly will after finishing this story.
Once called a "tenacious fighter for the underdog," Ely made it his mission in life to fight for people who needed an ally, because growing up, he could have used an ally himself.
"What was it about the Civil Rights movement that interested you so much?" ABC15's Nick Ciletti asked.
"The motivation was discrimination in my bringing up," Ely said.
As one of the only Jewish families in his small Pennsylvania town, Ely said he was the target of verbal and physical abuse.
"It was terrible," Ely explained. "One time, I was tied to a tree. It wasn't horrible because I was able to get away...It was something that - I didn't know what was going to happen the next day."
Ely said eventually, he learned to "accommodate" that poor treatment, but knew deep down it wasn't right.
"That's what motivated me, I think - to correct that situation for others."
And that's exactly what he did.
Ely jokes about others calling him an "agitator." It's a term he learned to wear proudly.
As a young attorney, he moved to Phoenix in 1957 where segregation was still common. Ely wanted to change that.
"People would sit in theatres and when I came to town, Blacks were not allowed to sit regularly. They had to go in the balcony."
So Ely got to work, joining, and eventually leading the Greater Phoenix Council for Civil Unity, and pushed the Phoenix City Council to add protections against discrimination.
At first, the efforts failed, but Ely kept fighting.
Ely remembers when it finally passed; it was joyous, but he also took it as a call to action.
"We were thrilled to death, but now there is a lot more work to be done."
That wasn't the only thing Ely helped accomplish. He also authored Arizona's Civil Rights bill, which was signed into law in 1965.
The new law banned discrimination when it came to public accommodations, employment, labor unions, and voting.
In his more than half a century of practicing law, Ely started off handling several civil rights cases and eventually would branch out and expand his field of expertise to include many public interest cases.
Now, at the age of 90, Ely is looking back on a lifetime and career of changing laws, changing minds, and even changing lives.
But if you asked him, he would modestly tell you he was just doing his job.
"I wasn't heroic," said Ely. "No one can make me out that way. I was a fearless person."
And by being fearless, he inspired so many people who came into contact with him. Ely has a laundry list of accomplishments. To read more about Ely and his inspirational life, click here.
