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Fred Milton was born in Arkansas in 1948, the son of a sharecropper. Through his achievements in athletics, particularly football, he was able to attend Oregon State University (OSU) on a scholarship. In 1969, while Fred was attending OSU, the infamous "Beard Incident" took place, where Fred came into conflict with his football coach, Dee Andros, over a policy that required all football players to be clean-shaven. Viewing this as a racially charged violation of his human rights, Fred refused, risking his football scholarship and the opportunity to attend college. This inspired the Black Student Union (BSU) to organize a variety of protest actions in solidarity with Fred.

The BSU Walkout, while inspired by Fred Milton, was led primarily by student leaders from the BSU, and grew out of a larger pattern of disrespect faced by OSU's black students. Their actions culminated in a walkout of nearly all of OSU's black students on March 5th, 1969. Following these actions, the OSU president formed a human rights commission, which found that the facial hair rule was a human rights violation, and compelled OSU athletics to change the rule.

Fred Milton chose to leave OSU, and accepted a scholarship to attend Utah State University in 1969. This same year, he married his wife, Loretta Milton. Fred went on to play football for the Montreal Alouettes, but later quit playing football professionally, citing his dissatisfaction with the way football players were treated. He moved to Portland, Oregon, where he got a job as a police community liaison. This began a long career in public service and local government. After 15 years in local government, he founded the Portland Inner-City Sports Club in 1993. Fred Milton passed in 2011.

Additional biographical information about Fred Milton can be found in the Fred Milton Family Oral History Interview with his wife Loretta Milton, daughter Zalika Gardner, and grandson Isaiah Adams.