Ed Reynolds

Edward Reynolds (born January 23, 1942) was the first black full-time graduate of Wake Forest University, a move that began the desegregation movement for private schools in the American South. He became a professor of history at the University of California, San Diego, and the author of several history books.

Early life Reynolds was born in Akropong, Ghana, in 1942. After being introduced into the African Student Program, activists decided to contact missionaries in order to recruit and finance a black African student as an international student. Harris Mobley, a Baptist minister in Ghana, recommended Reynolds, who had a desire to effect social change. In 1961, Reynolds applied for admission to Wake Forest University, but his initial application was rejected, so the program instead sent him to North Carolina to attend the historically black Shaw University in Raleigh.

Post-graduate life He became a professor of history at the University of California, San Diego, and the author of several history books, including Stand the Storm: A History of the Atlantic Slave Trade (1985).

Reynolds returned to Wake Forest as a guest in 2012, fifty years after his graduation, to give a speech.

Personal life As of 2013, Reynolds has been married at least twice.