Sarah Elizabeth Ray

Sarah Elizabeth Ray (also known as Lizz Haskell; 1921–2006) was an African American civil rights activist who in 1945 was denied entry on SS Columbia, a ferry operated by the Bob-Lo Excursion Company.

In June 1945 after her graduation from secretarial school, Ray along with her peers planned a trip to Bois Blanc Island using ferries employed by the Bob-Lo Excursion Company.

Ray noted the rising tensions left behind by the riots and hence felt the need to create a youth center to promote recreational activities[7] that would also maintain racial harmony within her neighborhood.

In 2020, filmmaker Aaron Schllinger, in collaboration with author Desiree Cooper, memorialized Ray's legacy as a civil rights activist through the creation of a documentary titled Detroit's Other Rosa Parks.

Schllinger highlighted Ray's role in integrating the ferry system for Bob-Lo rides along with setting a legal precedent that went on to shape the decisions that happened in Brown vs. Board of Education.

[10] After divorcing her first husband, Ray went on to marry Raphael Haskell, a Jewish activist with whom she opened Action House, a community center that provided community-based aid to Black youth within Detroit.