{"id":4888,"date":"2020-04-23T21:03:40","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T21:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/african-free-schools\/ny-free-school\/dorcas-society-copy\/"},"modified":"2025-04-13T14:17:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T18:17:02","slug":"henrietta-regulus-ray","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/african-free-schools\/legacies\/dorcas-society\/henrietta-regulus-ray\/","title":{"rendered":"Henrietta Regulus Ray"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; admin_label=&#8221;Henrietta Regulus Ray&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.2.2&#8243;][et_pb_row admin_label=&#8221;Body&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.2.2&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.2.2&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Henrietta Regulus Ray Body Text&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.5.6&#8243; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p>Henrietta Green Regulus Ray (1808-1836) was a prominent Black female activist in New York City and first wife of <a href=\"\/black-mobility\/delegate-lecture-circuits\/charles-ray\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rev. Charles B. Ray<\/a>. Before her marriage, she lived in the home of close friend Samuel Cornish, notable abolitionist, founder of <em>Freedom\u2019s Journal<\/em>, and business partner of Charles Ray. In 1828, she married a shoemaker named Laurent (Lawrence) D. Regulus who died later that year. Henrietta married Ray in 1834, and the couple had a daughter, Matilda, who died soon after birth. Both Matilda and her mother died of tuberculosis.<sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Despite her early death, Henrietta G. R. Ray was an active member in the female Black community in New York City as an advocate for women\u2019s education and independence. She helped establish the <a href=\"\/african-free-schools\/ny-free-school\/dorcas-society\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">African Dorcas Association<\/a>, a group who provided clothing to students of the African Free School. In 1828 she became the assistant secretary of the Association. Her most notable achievement was her election as first president of the New York Female Literary Society around the time she married Ray. The Society was \u201cformed for the purpose of acquiring literary and scientific knowledge,\u201d and Henrietta was among its \u201cbrightest stars.\u201d<sup>2 <\/sup>Regulus Ray had very strong religious views from her childhood until her death. In her obituary listed in <em>The Colored American<\/em>, a newspaper edited by both Cornish and Ray, Cornish lamented over the loss of his dear friend and praised her for her beliefs and relationship with God, as well as, her contribution to her community.<\/p>\n<p>Although Regulus Ray did not live to the time of the 1855 convention, she exhibited behaviors that suggest her beliefs and goals were similar to those of the convention\u2019s. In Samuel Cornish\u2019s obituary, he mentioned Ray having some sort of \u201cuseful trade\u201d that she taught to many young women.<sup>3 <\/sup>Her active role in the African Dorcas Association and the Female Literary Society showed her support for the education and development of youth and women. She was also involved in fundraising for fugitive slaves and petition campaigns to abolish slavery in areas like Washington D.C. Charles Ray and his second wife, <a href=\"\/black-mobility\/associated-women\/charlotte-augusta-burroughs-ray\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Charlotte Burroughs<\/a>, chose to name their daughter <a href=\"\/black-mobility\/associated-women\/henrietta-cordelia-ray\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Henrietta Cordelia Ray<\/a> after Charles\u2019 first wife as a way of honoring her accomplishments and memory.<\/p>\n<h3>Credits<\/h3>\n<p>Elizabeth Sobel, Black Literary History, Taught by Professor Pier Gabrielle Foreman, University of Delaware Spring 2013. Edited by Kelli Coles.<\/p>\n<h3>References<\/h3>\n<p>[1] Boylan, Anne. &#8220;Ray, Henrietta Green Regulus (1808-1836).&#8221; <em>M-Z<\/em>. Ed. Darlene Clark Hine. Brooklyn: Carlson, 1993. Print. Vol. 2 of <em>Black Women in America<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>[2] [3] Cornish, Samuel E. &#8220;On the Death of Mrs. Ray.&#8221; <em>The Colored American<\/em> [New York] 4 Mar. 1837: n. pag. Print.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Henrietta Green Regulus Ray (1808-1836) was a prominent Black female activist in New York City and first wife of Rev. Charles B. Ray. Before her marriage, she lived in the home of close friend Samuel Cornish, notable abolitionist, founder of Freedom\u2019s Journal, and business partner of Charles Ray. In 1828, she married a shoemaker named [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":5400,"parent":4612,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4888","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Henrietta Regulus Ray - New York African Free Schools and Their Convention Legacies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/african-free-schools\/legacies\/dorcas-society\/henrietta-regulus-ray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Henrietta Regulus Ray - New York African Free Schools and Their Convention Legacies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Henrietta Green Regulus Ray (1808-1836) was a prominent Black female activist in New York City and first wife of Rev. 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