Willie Lee Gay Collection

A Texas historian for the past 30 years, Willie Lee Gay has been a vocal advocate and teacher for documenting the history of African American communities in Texas. In 1976, Gay made a concerted effort to save the historic Covington House in Third Ward from destruction. Dr. Benjamin Covington, a prominent African American doctor of the early 1900s, hosted such luminaries as Booker T. Washington and singer Marian Anderson at his home. Despite her efforts the historic structure was destroyed in the interests of redevelopment. She would use this experience as motivation to preserve other historic properties, determined never to let this happen again.

As a history teacher in Houston, she was never content to teach strictly from a textbook. Her teaching style incorporated an interdisciplinary approach, where students would conduct site visits, demonstrations, and hands-on research that involved students proactively. Her philosophy was to instill a passion for history and to make it real and relevant for her students. She founded the Junior Historian Club at the Carter G. Woodson Junior High School. Besides teaching, she became actively involved in many organizations that were dedicated to preserving history, such as the Harris County Heritage Society, the Harris County Historical Commission, and the Houston Preservation Alliance.

Her working relationship with former Governor Ann Richards led to her appointment as the first African American Commissioner of the Texas Historical Commission (1991-1997), where she dealt with historic preservation issues on a state-wide level. Ms. Gay currently continues her work of historic preservation in Houston and has contributed many entries on African Americans in the Handbook of Texas, a multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history.