Stevenson ‘a force for … quiet, lasting, stable change’

Posted on January 22, 1986November 12, 2016 by Heath Springs

Jan. 22, 1986

An Observer editorial marks the award of the Community Relations Committee’s Martin Luther King Jr. Award to Sarah Stevenson.

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Sarah Stevenson has been in the center of things for decades. Her life has left its mark on her extended family, her children, and the communities she has served. No one collection can tell the whole story.

This collection began when Sarah Stevenson began tidying up the house where she has lived for decades. She's collected a few mementos; some would say the home is stuffed to the gills with mementos of her life of service to Charlotte.

Some of those mementos will be catalogued here. Her recollections of events, prompted by looking again at the mementos, will eventually accompany the pictures, citations, articles and other memorabilia.

Sarah's son Tom said his mother has never forgotten where anything is in her house. But we shall all cut her a bit of slack: Remembering everything from nine decades of an eventful life is a tall order. Even for Sarah Stevenson.

A chronological index will help organize the materials. But most of the original materials that Sarah Stevenson kept do not carry any annotations of date. The dates chosen may be an approximation, and are subject to revision. Where an exact date was unavailable, materials will be filed under four dates for each year: Jan. 1, April 1, July 1 and Oct. 1. Chronological, name and subject indexes are available from the top right of each page. The subjects are:

Family: Sarah Mingo Stevenson’s roots in Kershaw County, S.C., and material related to her extended family.

Church: Materials from a lifelong devotion to the work of the Lutheran church.

Work: Stevenson’s early employment, and career in mediation for the City of Charlotteimmediate family, education and early employment.

CMS: Her service on the PTA and, later, on the school board from 1980-1988.

Community: Materials from a lifetime of work for community groups, business development clubs, social clubs and the like.

Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum: Co-founder of this group founded in 1980, Stevenson set the civil tone for its discussion of divisive public issues. The group changed its name in 2022 to Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum in her honor.

Sarah & Samuel Stevenson Scholarship Fund: Fundraisers have helped create scholarship support for Johnson C. Smith University students.

South African Students Scholarships: Stevenson met some young people in South Africa in 2012, and promised that she would help get them to college in the U.S.

Growing the Dream Awards: Stevenson was an early advocate for these MLK Day luncheons.

Accolades: Beginning before her school board service and continuing for the rest of her life, community groups celebrated her public service.