THE STORY BEHIND THE HOUSE

After fighting to integrate Boblo Island, Ray married a Jewish labor activist, Rafael Haskell, and changed her name to Lizz Haskell. After the 1967 Detroit Rebellion, the couple founded Action House, a neighborhood empowerment organization on Detroit’s east side. They moved into the house next door where they spent the rest of their lives.

Today, Action House is gone. Yet Sarah and Ray’s home remains, strewn with books, papers, and photos—items that belong in a museum.

In 2020, the Sarah E. Ray Project called attention to the historic significance of the house and the Detroit Land Bank removed it from the demolition list. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named the former home of Sarah E. Ray one of America's “11 Most Endangered Historic Sites” in 2021. In 2023 the house was purchased by Detroit based entrepreneur, Shannon Steel. Steel plans to turn the house into a museum to elevate the story of this little-known civil rights activist.