Fields, Sharon B.

Sharon B. Fields, born in Paris, KY, is an educator, politician, and minister. She was also the first African American woman to become a city commissioner in Paris. William B. Reed, the first African American commissioner in the city, was one of the candidates during Fields' first run for a seat on the commission in 1989. She was a new contender who had her supporters, but for some her candidacy represented a split in the African American vote: it was feared she would greatly decrease the chances of having at least one African American city commissioner. Others felt that one African American male candidate was most appropriate.

Fields lost her first election by three votes but was appointed to the commission when one of the commissioners stepped down. In 1990, she was a teacher at Paris High School while serving as a city commissioner, continuing to serve as a commissioner off and on  for the next 10 years. Reverend Fields has been a member of the Paris Independent School Board of Education. She also served as pastor of the Eminence Christian Church in Eminence, KY. She is now retired from teaching and her ministerial work and is employed part-time as a library circulation clerk at the Paris-Bourbon County Public Library and a children's and young adult author.

Reverend Fields earned her undergraduate degree in education at Eastern Kentucky University, a master's in education at Georgetown College (KY), a master's in public affairs at Kentucky State University, and a divinity master's at Lexington Theological Seminary.

Reverend Fields was the first African American woman vice moderator and moderator for the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. She is also an author who has written numerous articles for religious magazines, including Just Women; for the Bourbon Times and The Bourbon Citizen; and an article for Essence Magazine on social security benefits for out-of-wedlock children. She wrote Where Are You, Brother Daniel, a book for children about the enslaved during the Revolutionary War; and co-authored In Other Words--; stories of African American involvement in the early years of the Stone-Campbell movement in Kentucky.

This entry was submitted by Kellie Scott of the Paris Bourbon County Public Library.

For more information on Sharon B. Fields as a city commissioner, see the commission records at the Bourbon County Clerk's Office; see also the Sharon B. Fields' website.