No family has complete agreement in all opinions, and ours is no exception. In 1998 there was an internet debate about whether to delete language about African-Americans that is now considered crude and offensive, but at the time of the writing was commonplace.  See for example, Christmas Story, Sketch No. 33.  Since electronic communication can be used for distribution of the Sketches, there is a real chance that someone will be offended.

But the difference in opinions goes beyond just language. One personal question that today’s family members might like to ask themselves is their view of the status of the descendants of the former slaves that kept the name O’Rear (See Footnote 2 in Ed C. O’Rear II’s Sketch No. 1).

The contribution of African-American O’Rear’s has not been documented previously. But it exists. Note the following which appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

OTERIA O'REAR, ACTIVIST FROM LEXINGTON, DIES
Tuesday, November 24, 1998
By Jennifer Hewlett – Staff Writer

Oteria O'Rear was involved in several causes, including civil rights and equity for women, children and the poor.

Former Lexington resident Oteria O'Rear was remembered yesterday as an activist who was committed to making the world a fair place for everyone.

Mrs. O'Rear, who lived in Lexington for many years before moving to Michigan in the mid-1990s, died Saturday at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich., following surgery. She was 79.

She held many influential positions in local, state and national organizations, and did not limit her interests to any one area. She was active in civil rights causes, programs to aid women, children and the poor, and efforts to improve her neighborhood and town.

"I found her a person to be truly dedicated and committed to making our world a fair world. She was constantly concerning herself with correcting the inequities she saw," said friend and Lexington lawyer Shirley Cunningham . "She was always willing to be so helpful and work to support the right thing."

Mrs. O'Rear was a former president of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

In 1974, she was elected to the board of directors of Big Sisters International, and in 1978, she was the only black woman and the only Kentuckian serving as one of 10 national directors for the National Association of Commissions for Women. She also had been a delegate to the National Women's Conference in Houston in 1977, and had been an officer in the Interstate and Kentucky commissions on women.

In 1984, Mrs. O'Rear was sworn in as a Fayette County magistrate. She is thought to be the first black woman elected official in the history of the county. She also was president of the Georgetown Area Neighborhood Association.

"She was a community organizer in the 1970s when those activists were very important in the black community," Mayor Pam Miller said. "She was an advocate for her neighborhood and for the African-American needs in the community... She didn't take `no' for an answer."

The 1970s were especially busy years for Mrs. O'Rear. During that time she shuttled back and forth between Frankfort, Louisville, Lexington and Washington, working for welfare rights, the Equal Rights Amendment and the Kentucky Commission on Women, among other things. But her involvement in causes she believed in continued until her death.

Before moving to Lexington in the 1960s, Mrs. O'Rear taught elementary school for several years in Cleveland. She also was a former society and managing editor of two newspapers in Ohio.

She was born in Tennessee and grew up in Blytheville, Ark. She started teaching when she was 18. She later received a bachelor's degree from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, and completed most of the requirements for a master's degree from Ohio University.

Mrs. O'Rear started "speaking out" for black rights when she was a college student in the late 1940s.

In Lexington she continued as an educator, teaching at-risk children in summer education programs.

She also worked in the family business, a conglomeration of rental properties and a grocery store. At the store she often dispensed advice to young children in her neighborhood.

"My husband says I've got a class going on in the store," she said in a 1977 interview about her efforts to teach the children how to pool their food stamps for a balanced meal instead of buying junk food.

Mrs. O'Rear ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council in 1975. She said she got little support from the black community because she was independent politically. Later she would describe herself as a "dyed-in-the wool Democrat."

In 1977, after conducting her own informal survey of black female employees in Urban County Government, she concluded there was little "action" in the local government's Affirmative Action program.

Her answer at the time to those who would argue that few qualified black women applied for managerial positions in government was, "You let me know there's an opening and I'll find one for you."

She was a member of Lexington's Main Street Baptist Church and the Urban League and was the widow of George O'Rear.

Surviving is a daughter, Dr. E'toile Libbett of Kalamazoo; a brother, William Graham of Cleveland; and a grandson, Dave Libbett IV of Kalamazoo.

Arrangements were pending at O. L. Hughes & Sons Mortuary.

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Oteria L. O'Rear, 79, Kalamazoo, Mich., formerly of Lexington, died Saturday. Memorial service 2 p.m. Dec. 12, Main Street Baptist Church. Arrangements, O. L. Hughes & Sons Mortuary. Contributions suggested to George W. and Oteria L. O'Rear Educational Endowment Fund at Blue Grass Community Foundation.
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