Born in 1887 in Flovilla, Georgia, Arthur Mays came to South Dade in 1900 at the age of thirteen. He began his farming career as a sharecropper and eventually became a very prosperous land owner.

Arthur Mays married Polly Tanner in 1908 and together they were considered “champions of education in the Goulds area”. Due to school segregation and limited opportunity for black students, they were inspired to start a school for black children in 1914. As was common in that time, this school was established in  a church. They later donated land to the school for black children living between Florida City and Howard.

Even after the school board established Goulds Elementary, few blacks had transportation to get there. The Mays bought a wagon from the Holsum Bakery and began transporting children at their own expense. At this time, they began a long effort to raise money for buses and eventually bought three buses to transport school children from Homestead and Perrine to Goulds Elementary. Polly Mays served as a bus driver for 15 years.

Today, Mays Middle School, a large portion of which sits on the land the couple donated, is named in honor of Arthur and Polly Mays.