Sarah Elizabeth Ray - Detroit's Other Rosa Parks

[renf]

In 1946, a young African American woman from Detroit, Sarah Elizabeth Ray, graduated from a secretarial science program here in Detroit. She was the only African American in her class. To celebrate, her class boarded the S. S. Columbia for a trip to Bob Lo Island. Because of her race, the boat line refused to let her board. The local NAACP immediately took up the matter. Future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was her lawyer. As the case made its ways through the federal courts, the boat line claimed it was not subject to the 14^th amendment since it operated in international waters. Her lawyers argued this was a ruse since the only easy way to get to Bob Lo was by boarding the boat at the foot of Woodward. The Supreme Court decided in her favor and ruled that the Bob Lo boat was subject to the 14^th amendment which prohibited racial discrimination in interstate but not in intrastate transportation. This is one a half dozen of so Supreme Court decisions about race that led up to the Brown decision in 1954. Some have called Sarah Elizabeth Ray Detroit’s other Rosa Parks.

She lived for part of her life at a home on Woodlawn on the east side of town. In June of this year, the National Park Service issued a list of the 11 most endangered historical sites in the country. They do this every year. Sarah Elizabeth Ray’s abandoned home is on this year’s list. There is a local go-fund me campaign seeking funds to restore her home and, I assume, place an historic marker. I would like to add a
picture of her home to my Detroit1701 website. Does anyone know the address of this historical site on Woodlawn? Thank you.

[Maof]

I recently read about this on another website. I believe the address is 9308 Woodlawn.

There is a virtual walkthrough of the home here still littered with personal photo's and letters. https://www.detroitsotherrosaparks.c...QJWjqn0EltYh7U
https://www.google.com/maps/place/93...!4d-83.0126729

[bust]

Thank you, this was the first time I'd heard of her.
We have many more heroes than we know.
Many small acts coalesce into a movement.
What a great investment to preserve the memory,
Our reminder.

[Wheels]

Rosa Parks now resides in Woodlawn. Coincidence?