Staughton C. Lynd dedicated his long life to doing important work in the name of civil rights and fair labor laws. What’s more, he pursued these lifelong goals peacefully.

Residents of our Valley and from so far beyond here owe much gratitude to Lynd for his strong beliefs and for his utmost persistence.

Sadly, Lynd, a teacher, attorney and activist, died last week in Warren. He was 92.

Lynd is perhaps best known and revered locally for his insistence on fair labor laws and for his support of workers during the turbulent years in the local steel industry. As the steel industry turned downward, he became known for attempts to preserve the mills.

In 1983, Staughton Lynd penned the book, “The Fight Against Shutdowns: Youngstown’s Steel Mill Closings,” with assistance from his wife, Alice, also an attorney and activist.

Lynd also participated in 1960s-era civil rights demonstrations in the South, including the 1964 “Freedom Summer Project.” Lynd oversaw setting up Freedom Schools throughout Mississippi, which were the backbone of Freedom Summer, led by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Congress of Racial Equality, two major civil rights organizations that recruited hundreds of mostly white and young Northerners to come to the South to help blacks register to vote and receive a better education. He also worked with the late Bob Moses, an educator and activist who was the Freedom Summer’s main organizer.

Additionally, Lynd became an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War. In his efforts to draw attention to his opposition, Lynd led peaceful protests and hosted speaking engagements.

Lynd also stood against capital punishment, and he spoke in opposition to the “prison industrial complex.”

All that Lynd accomplished through the years came with strength and grace. In recalling his legacy last week, longtime local activist Penny Wells described Lynd as a “gentle spirit.”

Whether you agreed or disagreed with any of his positions, one thing is for certain. Lynd’s often effective use of the rights to free speech and to peaceably assemble, as spelled out in our Constitution, should remind us all how lofty goals can be accomplished when one believes strongly and works to effect change in our world. In Lynd’s case, his goals generally involved working to make the world more fair for all.

At a time when so much anger and divisiveness exist everywhere, we should hold Lynd’s direct but peaceful approach as an example of a legacy we could live by.

editorial@vindy.com