November 8, 1888

William Henry Grey died in Helena (Phillips County). Grey emerged as a leader of African Americans in Arkansas after he settled in Helena in 1865. His involvement in politics included being a Republican member of the 1868 state constitutional convention and a member of the Arkansas General Assembly, as well as serving as the Commissioner of Immigration and State Lands. In 1872, he became the first African American to address a national nominating convention, seconding the nomination of Republican presidential candidate Ulysses S. Grant.

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