Quapaw Quarter Association annual tour highlights home of first African American extension workers, Little Rock Nine member Gloria Ray
The weight of decades sat on its darkened porch. The non-profit organization Preserve Arkansas even listed the home as one of the state’s most endangered in 2016.
By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
April 26, 2024
Fast facts:
- Tour of homes set for May 11-12
- The Rays moved to Arkansas in 1916
- Learn about the tour and purchase tickets
- Rays significant to Land-Grant and desegregation
(875 words)
(Newsrooms: with 2016 file art from Preserve Arkansas)
LITTLE ROCK — For years the home at 2111 Cross Street languished, and with it, the memories of a landmark in Little Rock’s history.
Its once-proud face was worn. Strips of paint peeled away, laying its wood open to the wounds of wind and water. The weight of decades sat on its darkened porch. The non-profit organization Preserve Arkansas even listed the home as one of the state’s most endangered in 2016.
But in 2019, new owners took possession of the home and poured much-needed love into the wood and brick house that was once the home of Arkansas’ first African American agricultural extension workers and the childhood home of the Little Rock Nine’s Gloria Ray.
This spring, the Dunbar neighborhood house is among those being featured in the Quapaw Quarter Association’s 59th annual tour of homes May 11-12.
“We were looking for some houses in the area and the current owners were happy to open their house to us and to have it on tour,” said Callie Williams, a Quapaw Quarter Association volunteer and architectural historian. “They’re newer homeowners. They recently purchased the home and have recently done a big renovation and rehabilitation job on the house.
“It was in kind of a sorry state and had fallen into disrepair. They were able to get the house and bring it back,” Williams said.
Mary Lee and Harvey Cincinnatus Ray
The story begins with Mary Lee McCrary and the man who would become her husband, Harvey Cincinnatus Ray.
Educated at the Tuskegee Institute and graduating in 1897, Mary Lee McCrary began teaching at private schools in Alabama and South Carolina. She moved into public education in 1900. She served as an instructor at what was then the new Colored Agricultural and Normal University in the Oklahoma Territory. McCrary was also an entrepreneur and during her time in Oklahoma, she built a successful dressmaking business.
McCrary’s life changed when she met Harvey Cincinnatus Ray, a fellow faculty member at Langston. The couple married, moving to Arkansas. They made their home at 2111 Cross Street.
Harvey Ray would be the first Black county agent of the Arkansas Agricultural Extension Service in 1915 and Mary Ray would become the first Black home demonstration agent in 1916. Their jobs involved bringing the latest university discoveries to help people live better, whether it meant growing more crops or being able to better feed a family.
Work done by the Agricultural Extension Service is undertaken today by the Cooperative Extension Service, the outreach arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
The Rays’ work
Harvey Ray’s appointment included working with farmers in a large swath of Arkansas: Pulaski, Phillips, Jefferson, Lee, Monroe, Crittenden and Arkansas counties. In 1918, he was named district agent, a title he held until his death in the 1950s.
Mary Ray would conduct her outreach efforts in Pulaski, Phillips and St. Francis counties, until July 1918, when she was promoted to district agent for home demonstration work. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, the promotion would expand “her responsibility to as many counties as emergency wartime funding would support — at least 30 based on her 1918 report.”
Mary Ray’s projects included canning demonstrations, garden clubs and school lunch programs.
She held the post of district agent until her death in 1934.
“We stand on the shoulders of pioneers like Mary Lee McCrary Ray who modeled the way of home demonstrations, strength in adversity and program advocacy,” said Nina Roofe, assistant vice president for family and consumer sciences at the Cooperative Extension Service. “Our classrooms and technology are different today, but our focus on bringing education in everyday language to individuals and families in our communities remains the same.
“We bring financial management, health and nutrition, civil engagement, and more to empower Arkansans to make informed decisions to improve their lives,” Roofe said.
“And as Mary Ray did, our agents engage with their quorum courts and other stakeholders to ensure sustainable funding of programs for future generations,” Roofe said.
The Little Rock Nine
After Mary Ray’s death, Harvey Ray married another home demonstration agent, Julia Miller. The pair raised three children, including Gloria Ray. At 15, in 1957, Gloria Ray was one of the Little Rock Nine denied entry to Little Rock Central High. President Eisenhower ordered units of the Army’s 101st Airborne to the scene and federalized the Arkansas National Guard soldiers that Gov. Orval Faubus sent to the school to prevent integration. The Nine were later escorted into the school by federal troops.
Amy Cofer, an extension program associate for early childhood professional development, will be a tour guide for this house.
“It’s an excellent opportunity for us and the Quapaw Quarter Association to highlight the rich history of the Cooperative Extension Service in the state and remind people we’re still here, providing the same free education to Arkansans,” Cofer said.
Tour information
The Quapaw Quarter Association’s tour includes homes in the Dunbar and Governor's Mansion neighborhoods of Little Rock. Tours run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on May 11-12. Tickets are $30 in advance, or $40 at the door. Want to volunteer as a tour guide for this home? There's a signup page.
The tour is a key fundraiser for the Quapaw Quarter Association, whose mission is to preserve Greater Little Rock's historic places.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.
About the Quapaw Quarter Association
The Quapaw Quarter Association’s mission is to preserve Greater Little Rock's historic places.
Incorporated in 1968, the QQA grew out of an effort to identify and protect significant historic structures in Little Rock during the urban renewal projects of the early 1960s. Throughout its existence, the QQA has been a driving force behind historic preservation in Greater Little Rock.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Media contact: Mary Hightower
mhightower@uada.edu