The work to preserve the legacy of Detroit’s unsung civil rights hero Sarah Elizabeth Ray continues.
On Tuesday, The Detroit Land Bank Authority unanimously voted to sell Ray’s house and an adjacent lot for $1 to SPB Global, which is registered to local businesswoman Shannon Steel.
She plans to turn the home into a museum and affordable housing for the elderly, while the lot will become a community garden dedicated to Ray’s memory.
Ray fought to desegregate the famed Bob-Lo Boats in 1945 after being denied a seat on the S.S. Columbia because she was Black. She sued the Bob-Lo Excursion Co. and took her case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court with the help of future justice Thurgood Marshall, who was an NAACP lawyer at the time. Her case is often cited as setting the precedent for the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, which desegregated public schools.
For that reason, Ray is referred to as “Detroit’s other Rosa Parks.”
Her story was uncovered by author and former Metro Times editor Desiree Cooper, who worked with filmmaker Aaron Schillinger on the Sarah E. Ray Project. The project included excavating Ray’s house and creating an oral history series on the community organization Ray and her husband ran called Action House. The empty lot next to Ray’s home is where Action House once stood.
Ray’s legacy was also explored in Schillinger’s 2022 documentary Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale.
Ray’s crumbling house at 9308 Woodlawn Ave. was once on the city’s demolition list and has long sat in disrepair. The DLBA initially put out an open call for proposals to save the house in August of 2022 but didn’t receive any offers until Steel came along.
Steel told Crain’s Detroit Business she wants to model the house after the Motown Museum.
“I just felt bad because the lady sacrificed so much,” Steel said in an interview with Crains. “It brought tears to my eyes for me to see that somebody could be so monumental and nobody would preserve the property.”
Steel also said the home has a solid foundation but needs $100,000 or more in repairs including a new roof, plumbing, and electricity.
Coming soon: Metro Times Daily newsletter. We’ll send you a handful of interesting Detroit stories every morning. Subscribe now to not miss a thing.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
