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SPOTLIGHT Mr. by Debbie Dunlap Longtime Reynoldsburg resident and first Black city councilmember Preston Stearns was born in 1945 in Scottsboro, Alabama, on a 40-acre farm with one mule. He was number 13 of 14 children in the large Stearns family where summers were spent in the hot Alabama heat on the shores of the Tennessee River. Scottsboro was a long way from Reynoldsburg in more ways than one. Some 530 miles separated the two towns, but in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, racism, segregation, and Jim Crow laws drew a deep divide that only mobility could surmount. Stearns, a humble and soft-spoken gentleman, knows that had he stayed in Alabama, things would likely have been very different for him. His relocation north gave Stearns the opportunity to be a trailblazer and a pioneer in Reynoldsburg, sparking change and paving the way for other African Americans to follow his footsteps into political life and public service. Scottsboro is a small town in the corner of Northeast Alabama, where just 14 years prior to Stearns’ birth, the Scottsboro Boys’ trial and their struggle for justice unfolded in dramatic and unforgivable fashion. The case is now widely regarded as one of the worst travesties of justice perpetrated against Blacks in the post-Reconstruction South. It was here Stearns called home. Despite separate schools and Jim Crow laws that prohibited much interaction between Whites and Blacks, Stearns remembers friends of both races. He lived and worked on the farm while going to school in a single structure that housed kindergarten through 12th grade all in one building. But just before his junior year, Stearns’ brother invited him to move to the Columbus area to live with him because he knew that his little brother would receive a much better education in Ohio. So, in 1962, Stearns packed his bags and moved to Columbus where his brother was stationed at Lockbourne Air Base, now known as Rickenbacker International Airport. Stearns enrolled at Marion Franklin High School on the city’s south side, graduating in 1964. After serving in the Army for two years, he began his career at General Motors in Columbus where he spent the next 37 years as a maintenance supervisor. During that time, he met the love of his life, Carolyn. The two were married in 1972 and moved to Reynoldsburg nearly a decade later in 1985. It was in Reynoldsburg at a local Democratic meeting, that he was introduced to Henry Schutte, Reynoldsburg’s City Auditor (and later Assistant Auditor for the State of Ohio). “He was always at city council meetings and always raising hell, I guess you could say,” remembers Stearns. “He was the only Reynoldsburg Magazine • Fall, 2021 Standing by Blacklick Creek, minutes from his Briarcliff area home, where he so proudly represented his beloved neighbors on Reynoldsburg City Council. Democrat to hold an elected position locally at the time, and I thought, ‘Why can’t I bring some change too.’” Stearns ran for a city council seat in 1991 and lost. “But I was very persistent,” he insists. Stearns ran again in 2003 and won, becoming the first Black city councilman in Reynoldsburg’s history. Stearns is very humble in recognizing his trailblazing efforts. But his achievements are nothing short of remarkable and inspirational to those who have followed behind him. “I’m proud to have been a part of this,” he says with a shy grin. “And I hope it continues.” As the fabric and demographics of Reynoldsburg continues to change, Stearns recognizes the importance of strong leadership and his role in helping to pave the path to change. He was a formidable advocate for the YMCA and a community center as a councilman, and for welcoming a predominately Black church at the former Big Bear location, a move opposed by some residents and which resulted in some nasty, threatening letters. It didn’t phase him much. “I was glad to be a part of the change. I just believed that I needed to do what I’m supposed to do as an elected official and I was not going to be swayed by everyone else. I fought for what was right.” Stearns looks forward to continued change in Reynoldsburg – changes in development, changes in the city’s diverse culture, changes that inspire younger generations to step up and serve. “You have to keep the pride of Reynoldsburg going. I hope to see people inspired to get involved in the city,” said Stearns. “I guess I was making good trouble,” he says, chuckling quietly. “I’ve been glad to have been a part of all of this, and I hope change continues well into the future.” Debbie Dunlap is a freelance writer and is a staff member of Reynoldsburg Magazine. She is also President of the Reynoldsburg Board of Education 13 Preston Stearns: Always fighting for what was right eynoldsburg

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